Escape From Dragon's Den
by Lisian38
Summary: Natsu, Sting, and Rogue have been kidnapped by a nefarious religious cult. What do they want with them? Will the rescuers from Fairy Tail and Sabertooth get to them in time? Will the rescuers need rescuing themselves? Author's Notes: Makarov is alive in this story. Some language, mature situations, violence.
1. Chapter 1: Happy's Lament

**I hope you enjoy this story. I know it's long. Please give critiques, not spam. -Lisian38**

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Lucy had become concerned when Natsu hadn't come back. She knew that Happy and he had gone on a private mission (for old time's sake) last week. She was hanging out at the guild, looking terse. Mira, noticing Lucy's expression and neglected milk shake, decided to see what's wrong. Mira inquired, "Lucy, is there something wrong with the milk shake?" Lucy looked up surprised. She reported, "What? Oh...no, Mira. I was just wondering what's taking Natsu and Happy so long. They should have been back before yesterday. I guess I'm just concerned, that's all." Mira smiled that cat-like smile when she was in matchmaker mode. She purred, "Oh really, Lucy? Is there anything else you want to say about Natsu, hmm?" Lucy frowned. She grumbled, "Geez, Mira. I'm just worried about my friend. Nothing more. I think I'll go talk to Erza and Gray." With that, she picked up her milkshake and walked over to her friends in a huff. Mira smirked.

Gray and Erza were staring at the board, looking for a small job until Natsu came back. Lucy walked over.

She greeted, "Hey, guys. Has Natsu come back yet?" Gray shook his head, saying, "Nope. Flame-brain sure is taking his time with his ' _small_ ' mission. We thought he would have come back earlier." Erza turned over to him, irritated. She demanded, "Silence! He will be back soon enough. I'm sick of your complaints." Lucy fretted, "Guys, don't you think it's strange he hasn't come back yet? This really isn't like him. I'm worried." Gray and Erza rolled their eyes at each other; they obviously thought of Lucy's worries as ridiculous. Erza chose reassurance, saying, "Lucy, there is nothing to worry about. He likely is taking longer, because he walks everywhere." Lucy nodded, saying, "I guess that makes sense. I feel silly not thinking of his problems with transportation. I must've worried for nothing."

"Sure thing, Lucy. That ash-breath would have to be under some major threat to have trouble. If anything, the client needs to worry about him destroying something," Gray chuckled.

Suddenly, the doors opened. Happy came flying through them in tears. He flew directly to Lucy and the others. He cried, "Guys, Natsu needs help! Please!" Erza looked at Happy, alarmed at his injuries. Lucy said, "Calm down, Happy. We need you to tell us what happened." Happy sniffed in Lucy's arms. He sniffled, "Okay. Here's what happened."

 _Flashback_

Natsu and Happy were cheerfully walking down a lane on their way back to Magnolia. Natsu reported, "Well, looks like we'll be back in two days, Happy! Should we start looking for a place to camp?" Happy cheerfully responded, "Aye, sir!" They found a cave nearby. Natsu smiled at his exceed, stating, "This looks like an awesome spot, huh, little buddy?" Happy agreed wholeheartedly. He cheerfully suggested, "Aye sir! Let's look for a place to go fishing. I want to eat some fish!" Natsu laughed. He stated, "All right! Let's set up the tent near the cave.

As they got closer to the cave, Natsu smelled something strange. He paused. Suddenly, he stopped Happy and whispered, "Something's not right with that cave. It smells like there are tons of people in it, along with the smell of..." He sniffed the air again. "Other dragon slayers." Happy looked shocked. He murmured, "Natsu, should we go look for help? Who are the other dragon slayers?" Natsu had a grim look. He stated, "It smells like those guys from Sabertooth. Something's not right. Let's quietly sneak in." Happy gently picked up Natsu, and flew in the cave as quietly as possible.

They saw a group of people in strange robes surrounding Sting and Rogue from Sabretooth. The dragon slayers were in chains attached to a wall. Sting growled out, "Let us go! I don't know what the hell you want. We have done nothing to you people." All the robed people surrounding them were chanting "Haegl Draca! Haegl Draca!" Rogue looked irritated, yelling, "Why are you ignoring us? What is wrong with you? Let us go!"

Natsu was confused, wondering, 'How in the hell did these people manage to capture dragon slayers? We're supposed to be some of the strongest wizards in all of Fiore.'

He felt something pat his arm. He looked over only to see a powder blown in his face. Natsu clawed at his throat as he struggled to breathe. It felt like acid was in his lungs, burning intensely every time he took a breath. He grabbed at his neck, coughing and choking. His eyes were bugging out, the veins on his wide open eyes turning bright red. He was helpless as two robed men approached him with magic deflecting chains.

Happy was being held by another man in a cloak. A howl of pain was heard in the cave, as Happy bit the man's hand. Once free, he soared over to Natsu and flew as fast as he could to escape. Happy was so focused on getting out of there, he didn't notice one of the men aim a dart gun right at him. He felt a little pinch in his thigh, and everything was spinning. Natsu was about to go unconscious from the horrible powder, too.

Happy saw a sliver of sunlight at the entrance of the cave. Happy said, "Hang on Natsu! We're almost there." He was determined to escape that cave with Natsu. He frantically thought, 'Don't let me lose power now. We're so close!'

All of a sudden, Happy lost his power. His magical wings disintegrated into tiny Etherion. Happy sluggishly dropped Natsu as gently as he could. He couldn't hold Natsu's weight anymore. Natsu fell on the hard cave floor in a clump. As Happy plummeted down a chasm, he hopelessly watched men in robes put some sort of chains on the unconscious Natsu, before carrying him off. Happy fell a little further down into a chasm before luckily landing on a pillar that was a little further down. It was in the dark, so the perpetrators didn't see him. Happy breathed raggedly in and out, tears running down his face. 'I failed you, Natsu!' was all Happy anguished about, before everything went dark.


	2. Chapter 2: Rescue Teams Form

"When I woke up, I couldn't find them. I panicked! I tried getting here as fast as possible. What if they hurt him?" Happy sobbed. Erza, Gray, and Lucy were rattled by what they heard. Lucy had never seen Happy so distressed before.

From the corner of the guild, Gajeel overheard Happy's conversation. He chose to speak up, asking, "Happy, did you say they chanted 'Haegl draca'?" Happy looked over, wiping his tears. He sniffed, "Yes. Why? Do you know where Natsu is? Why would they want dragon slayers?" Gajeel grimaced, adding, "I have an idea. Those pricks are dragon worshipers. I have ta say I went up against'em once. They are a sick cult. I know they have some sort of powder that overwhelms a dragon slayer's senses when blown in their face. I'm not sure what's in it. They put it in my face once. It feels like you are chokin' ta death." Lucy looked over at Gajeel, begging, "Do you know where they might have gone? Why would they target dragon slayers?"

Gajeel paused. He then walked over to the group. He wanted this quiet. He whispered, "Listen, Bunny Girl, I don't like talking about this. You see Laxus up there? He has a lacrima put him to give him dragon powers. Well, some of their members would put the lacrimas in them. Once they got their powers, they would drink this liquid which made them feral. They would pit their feral members against each other to see who be alpha. Then...they would give a kidnapped virgin girl to the alpha to see what he would do. Sometimes, the betas would join." Lucy was sickened. She whispered, "How do you know this?" He admitted, "They captured me once. I saw...things...I never want to see. I saw them go through rounds of this. They think the girl is some sort of 'sacrifice to the dragon' or somethin'. Luckily, they screwed up later on when they went to put me up. I realized the chains they were putting me on a wall were iron. I ate it and got outta there. I even told the Magic Counsel about these assholes. Don't know if anything really got done."

Lucy balked, "I've never heard about any of this before." Erza said, "How come the Magic Counsel hasn't put up a job request? I'm shocked this wasn't dealt with seriously." Gray asked, "How long ago was this?" Gajeel stated, "Three years." Erza deduced, "You were still in Phantom Lord. Since your guild was causing trouble, they may not have taken you as seriously." Gajeel growled, "So yer sayin' 'cause I was in a shitty guild, they didn't take it seriously? That's no excuse to ignore a major problem like that. People died!" Gray said, "Regardless, we need to rescue Natsu and the others."

Erza declared, "First, let's tell Master and Sabertooth about Natsu, Sting, and Rogue's disappearances. Then, we better inform the Counsel." Gajeel added angrily, "Yeah, maybe the Magic Counsel will take this shit seriously this time." She quickly ran upstairs to the Master. Lucy went over to a communication lacrima. After a couple rings, Yukino answered, "Lucy? To what do I owe the pleasure?" Lucy's face showed concern. She reported, "Unfortunately, this isn't going to be pleasurable news. Natsu was captured by this weird dragon worshiping cult. Happy told us Rogue and Sting were also captured." Yukino gasped in horror, "What?"

Behind Yukino, the doors opened, with a screaming Frosch and Lector yelling about their owners being kidnapped. Yukino told Lucy to hold for a minute and grabbed the exceeds. Yukino studied the exceeds with an astonished face. Not only were they crying from grief, but it appeared someone hurt them. Frosch had a black eye, and Lector had a haphazard bandage across his arm. Yukino hugged them to comfort them. She asked Lector, "Where was the last place you saw them?" Lector calmed down enough to say, "We were near Peace Village. I swear, we weren't more than 2 days from home. They blew this stuff in Rogue's and Sting's faces. We tried to save them, but...they beat us up and left us to die by the side of the road." Lucy pondered this. She suggested, "Hey Yukino, we're going to set up a rescue team for Natsu. How about Sabertooth works with us?" Yukino looked worried, affirming, "Sure. I'll for sure go along. I'll call you on the lacrima once we've gotten a team together. Talk to you soon."

Master Makarov walked to the top of the stairs and announced, "Listen up, brats! Natsu has been kidnapped! We need a group of volunteers to go collect him." Erza, Lucy, and Gray immediately volunteered. Happy obviously wanted to be there for his friend. Surprisingly, Gajeel volunteered as well. With a big smirk on his face, he said, "You won't be the only ones to destroy these bastards. I owe them an ass-whoopin'. Gihi."

Makarov nodded to the group. He said, "All right! Lucy, I believe you talked with Sabertooth. What did they say?" Lucy reported, "Yukino said they're preparing a team to join us on our search for the dragon slayers. She'll be calling me in a few minutes." Makarov looked on grimly, ordering, "Then I suggest all of those on the rescue team prepare. You'll leave tonight as soon as you're ready. I need to go communicate with the Magic Counsel immediately." With that, the team quickly went to their homes to make preparations.


	3. Chapter 3: Preparations

Happy floated behind Lucy back to her home. He looked like his heart was crushed. Lucy quickly packed and made some food. She asked, "Happy, would you like some fish?" He barely even acknowledged her. She asked, "Happy? Are you okay?" He looked up at her, responding, "I don't feel hungry. I just want Natsu back."

She gave him a gentle look and picked him up. She said, "Listen, Happy. We're going to find him as soon as possible, okay? Then, we'll kick those jerks to the ground! We need to find him, and that means we need your help giving us a general area to start. I'm pretty sure you haven't eaten much since you've left that cave. You have to calm down and eat. Natsu wouldn't want you sick, would he?" Happy shook his head and looked down. She cheerfully said, "I feel the same. Now let's get you something to eat, so we have the energy to find him! Okay?" For the first time since coming back, Happy brightened: "Aye, sir!"

After a quick meal, Lucy ran back to the guild to meet the others. The communication lacrima rang. Lucy answered it, "Yukino?"

Yukino showed on the screen: "Yes. Lucy, we have a team prepared to go out with your team. Our team is made up of Orga, Rufus, Minerva, Frosch, Lector, and myself. Who's in your team?"

Lucy answered, "We have Gajeel, Happy, Erza, Gray, and myself. You mentioned that your exceeds said Sting and Rogue were abducted near Peace Village? Hmm. Give me a minute."

Lucy looked over at Happy, asking "Happy? Where did you say Natsu was abducted?" Happy thought for a minute. He looked up at Lucy and said, "It was down the river in Era, close to Peace Village. We had just gotten done with a job in a Mountain Village in the Southeastern mountains."

Lucy looked back at the others in the Fairy Tail rescue team. She suggested, "What do you say about going to Peace Village to meet the others?" Erza looked at the map. She said, "Hmm. It does appear to be a good starting point." Gray and Gajeel nodded.

Lucy turned back to the lacrima, saying "Yukino, we'll meet at Peace Village. Let's meet by tomorrow." Yukino agreed and said, "See you soon, Lucy." Lucy smiled. "Bye, Yukino." With that, she turned around.

Lucy said, "Let's go get Natsu back." Fairy Tail's rescue team ran to the train station.

At the train station, the group was organizing their things. Erza had an entire cart of luggage. Gray said, "Erza, we needed to travel light! Remember?" Erza said, "Everything is important." Gajeel pulled an inflatable lifeboat out. He said, "Titania, we ain't goin' whitewater rafting!" She hissed, "It just in case!" Lucy ran up to the group. She said, "I just managed to buy the last tickets for an overnight train to Margaret Town. The train leaves in 10 minutes, so we better hurry."

Happy sat on Erza's luggage, completely worried. Lucy picked him up. She whispered, "I know you're worried. I am too. Just know that we'll do everything in our power to rescue him." Happy looked up at Lucy with a hopeful expression. "Really?" She reassured, "Really. You know how much we care about him." Happy joked, "You liiiiiike him." She chuckled, "Not like that. I just hope to get him back as badly as you do."

Erza said, "Let's get on the train." Once they got on their seats, they prepared for sleep. Happy was still upset. Lucy beckoned for Happy to sit on her lap. "Happy, remember what I said earlier. We need to be in good health so we can help Natsu. That means you need to sleep." Happy said, "But what if I get nightmares?" Lucy rubbed his back. She whispered, "You just let me chase them away." She then shooed away imaginary monsters. Happy hugged Lucy. "Thank you Lucy!" He cuddled up to her and promptly fell asleep.

Gray smiled at Lucy's antics. He said, "That was sweet of you. I know Happy teases you all the time, but he really does care about you." Lucy said, "I know. I'm probably just as worried as Happy is about Natsu. There are times it feels like he can be invincible. Knowing these people have the ability to capture him terrifies me, if I'm honest. I don't know what we'll be up against." Gray said, "Don't worry, Lucy. We've been up against some pretty terrible stuff in the past. We have always overcome it." Lucy put her fingers in Happy's fur. She said, "I know. I just hope Natsu is still alive."


	4. Chapter 4: Margaret Town and Peace Town

After boarding the train, they quickly got into the their night bunks. They rested the best they could, with the exception of poor Gajeel, who looked like he would vomit the entire time. Erza got so frustrated with his complaints and sick faces, she crankily got up and punched him in the gut to make him pass out. Thankfully, the rest of the train ride went smoothly.

Once they arrived in Margaret Town, they quickly got their things. Lucy asked, "What should we do first? Breakfast or walking to Peace Town?" Erza thought for a minute. She informed the group, "Actually, I'm going to suggest we talk to Lamia Scale to see if they have any additional information about these dragon worshipers. They appear to be near this guild's territory. Why don't a couple of you grab some sort of breakfast and meet the rest of us at Lamia Scale's guild hall?" They agreed. Lucy and Gray quickly picked up a quick breakfast and a few more supplies, then ran off to meet the others.

Once inside the guild hall, Lucy and Gray went over to meet the rest of their team. Erza was already talking with the Guild master, Ooba Babasaama: "So, have you heard anything about these people? We and Sabertooth need to find our members." Ooba thought for a minute; she divulged, "I have heard of strange people hanging around the mountains, just south of the rivers. They are strange folks, living in the caves and caverns around there. I've heard most of them live on the northern edge of the mountains. There's a bunch of caves and caverns in the area, many of which are interconnecting. They're nicknamed the Dragon's Den. That may be who you're talking about." Gray said, "Dragon's Den? That sounds exactly like a place we should check out." Erza and the others thanked Ooba and rushed off for the two hour walk to Peace Village.

By the time they got to Peace Village, it was already mid-day. They got there a little before Sabertooth, so they decided to get a lunch at a local pub. Before walking in, Lucy said, "I'm going to wait outside to see if the Sabertooth team are here. I'll be inside in 10 minutes. Just grab me a drink. I'll eat in a few."

The jovial pub owner welcomed them, "Well, hello there. Looks like we have some visitors! Welcome to the Tafod y Ddraig pub. What can I get you?" Erza and the others sat down. Gray ordered, "I guess we'll have 5 drinks." The pub owner counted; he said, "Five? I see the four of you, although I'm not sure that cat will drink what I offer." Happy said,"I'll have a water, actually." The pub owner's eyes widened, screeching, "The cat TALKS!"

Erza had forgotten exceeds weren't widely known. She politely said, "Ah, our little friend here is what we call an exceed. They talk and fly as well. They're always around dragon slayers." The pub owner's eyes looked very interested. He said, "Dragon slayers, eh? The community around here cares more about dragons than slayers." Gajeel quirked his pierced eyebrow up, casually asking, "Ya hear about any slayers in the area?" The pub owner looked curious, saying, "I don't know about that. I just happen to hear bits and pieces from the people who come to my pub." Gajeel asked, "And would you be open to sharing any of that information?" The pub owner said, "I don't know. Maybe I need a little motivation."

Gajeel rolled his eyes before pulling a bag of jewel and throwing it on the bar. Erza seethed, "Gajeel. We don't do things like that! That may have been what things were like in Phantom Lord, but you're a Fairy Tail mage now." Gajeel didn't even look at Erza. With a large grin on his face, he said, "When I was in Phantom Lord, I would just beat it out of 'em. I'm sure ya agree this way is far more kind, don't ya, Mr.?" The bar owner's eyes went wide, sputtering, "Y-yeah. I think we can work with this little arrangement. I can provide you some information." Gajeel asked, "What do I call you?" The pub owner said, "The name's Ethan. What do you want to know?"

Outside, Lucy was getting impatient for the Sabertooth team to arrive. She was really anxious about Natsu, Sting, and Rogue. She hated admitting it to herself, but she had a crush on Natsu. She was worried she may not see her friends ever again. But she was most frantic for Natsu. A tear went down her face as she thought of bringing Natu home in a coffin. She shook her head, thinking, 'Get a hold of yourself, Lucy. We're Fairy Tail. We won't leave any of our friends behind.'

As she looked around the town square, she couldn't help noticing a lot of people wearing red cloaks. She thought, 'Huh. Must be a fashion statement.' Then she remembered Happy's story: 'Cloaks..robes...I think we've found them!' She turned to go back inside the pub to inform the others, but someone grabbed her. "Get off of me!" she screamed. Then a powder was blown in her face. Everything went black.

Inside the pub, Ethan was helping the team. He grabbed a map. He said, "This is a map to the inside of the Dragon's Den caverns and cave system. A lot of them are interconnected. I don't have a complete map, but this is at least a start." Gajeel said, "Thanks, Ethan. You have any information on these freaks in red cloaks?" Ethan said, "Well, they call themselves Draco's Sons. I can tell you I'm from a nearby town. About 10 years ago, a whole bunch of the crops were destroyed in one night. We have a leader named Quincy who told us a dragon destroyed them. He had told us he knew of a way to appease dragons to prevent them from coming back. Each year we provide a set number of teenage or young men to be chosen by Draco. I don't know what happens, but I guarantee none of those guys have come back."

Gajeel asked, "Why go after first generation dragon slayers if they have willing participants?" Ethan said, "I don't know, but they seem really interested in them. I guess they feel they are more real, so they would be like the ultimate gift. I heard them complain of the one that got away a few years back. They were pretty pissed about it." Gajeel smirked. He asked, "Do they talk about first generation dragon slayers?" Ethan said, "Well, I guess they seem to know a lot about them. They watched the Grand Magic Games a couple years back and figured out they all have motion sickness. They certainly know there are 5 of them in the world. All I know is they want all of them for some reason." When Gajeel realized this cult was targeting Wendy as well, his face was red with fury. He slammed his fist down hard on the bar, growling, "Those sick bastards! Have ya heard about any of the dragon slayers being kidnapped?" Ethan shook his head, saying, "That's the first I've heard about that. I only hear snippets of what my customers say. I just know they keep saying something about a ritual."

Suddenly, they overheard Lucy's yell. Erza requipped and yelled, "Lucy!" She ran outside the pub to see Lucy was missing. Gray and Happy followed. Happy asked, "Where's Lucy?" Erza looked furious. She said, "We split up and look through town. Gajeel stay at the bar, and see if you can get more information." Gray, Happy, and Erza sprinted in three directions to look for Lucy. Gray thought, 'I hope we find you in time, Lucy.'


	5. Chapter 5: The Pub Owner's Distress

Gajeel, still in the bar, asked himself, "Are they lookin' for a new virgin?" Ethan looked shocked, saying "How did you know that?" Gajeel picked up Ethan by his neck. Ethan was tugging at Gajeel's hand as he choked. "Oh ho ho. How do I know that? I saw what those bastards did ta second generation slayers and sweet little virginal girls. I saw the blood spray all over the cage. Now, my new friend. How would YOU know about those poor girls?" He released Ethan's throat. He coughed and struggled to breathe.

He raggedly said, "Those bastards happened to kidnap my sister. I've been trying to figure out where those guys have taken her. I've been using this bar as a way to get more information. Heck, why do you think I picked the name? Tafod y Ddraig means 'Dragon's Tongue'. Those guys come in here partly because of the name alone! I'm still hoping to save my poor sister. She's been missing for a couple years now."

Gajeel's face went pale. He asked, "How many years has it been?" Ethan sadly said, "It's been 3 years. I have little hope of finding her alive after all this time, but I just want to know where she is. What did they do to her? They keep saying stuff about a ritual. I don't know what happened, but I'm positive those assholes kidnapped her." Gajeel looked down, feeling horrible.

He said, "I was kidnapped by'em three years ago. I'm a first generation dragon slayer. I guess they thought it was a big deal about gettin' one'a us. They make second generation dragon slayers with a dragon lacrima. I heard it's way more painful than doin' it naturally. I know a guy who's like that in our guild: Name's Laxus. Anyway, I saw them make a whole bunch of their followers go through that. They had this tournament where they fight each other to determine the alpha. Then they would be provided a virgin girl as a sacrifice. They wanted me to be the ultimate sacrifice at the end of this ritual." Ethan looked stricken: "Is my sister dead for sure?" Gajeel looked down, guilty, admitting, "Yeah. I couldn't get outta the cage. Trust me, I tried. They used some kinda magic depletin' cage."

Ethan asked, "Could you tell me how she died?" Gajeel breathed out, saying, "I dunno if I should." Ethan pleaded, "Please! I just need to know." Gajeel looked at Ethan's earnest face and relented: "I said I was caged, right? There were other cages in that cavern, too. All the guys that were becomin' slayers painfully transformed in their cages. Then they put'em into brackets to fight each other, like a fuckin' tournament. Somethin' tells me those guys weren't told they could die. They all seemed to believe this shit would help their crops or their villages or somethin'." Ethan nodded. He said, "Well, that's the thing. Some of the small villages around here believe that sacrifice will benefit their crops or the kingdom in general. As I said before, I'm from one of those villages. The robed ones have the village people convinced this is the only way to prevent the dragons from coming back. Each town takes turns providing young boys or men for the ritual."

Gajeel remembered fighting the dragons the went through the gate after the Grand Magic Games. He bitterly said, "I actually had to fight real dragons before. They walked through a gate after the Grand Magic Games a few years back. Salamander luckily destroyed the gate that let'em in. Not a single one'a us slayers killed a single dragon. All'a this ritual stuff if bunk." Ethan said, "I could have told you that. It's all bullshit!"

Gajeel continued, "They forced those guys to drink some sorta potions that made'em act like animals. They they put'em in a ring to fight to the death. Those battles were brutal. I saw one of 'em rip off the other guy's head and drink blood from it. It was sick shit like that. Anyway, they finally got to the last three. Those guys somehow managed to stop killing each other to establish who was the alpha. There were two betas and an alpha. Then, a door opened a door. A pretty girl in a white dress was led out. She seemed drugged or somethin'. It was like she didn't care if she would die. She was just...blank." Gajeel looked at Ethan's horrified expression, asking, "Do you want me ta continue? I don't have to, if you don't want me to."

Ethan pondered for a minute silently. With tears threatening to pour down his face, he angrily said, "Continue." Gajeel exhaled before saying, "The three guys were left in cages. The girl was led to a stone table. After she laid down, the guards got outta the caged arena. Then, the slayers were released. The alpha immediately raped her." Ethan audibly cried out. Gajeel continued, "Afterwards, the three slayers took turns scratchin', bitin', and beatin' her. She was emotionless the entire time. Finally, the alpha bit into her neck, ripping out her veins. I'm pretty sure, that's when she died. I don't want to be horrible to ya kid, but the slayers were so wild, they played with the body afterward. They were feral. I backed away when a stray arm hit the bars'a my cage." Gajeel observed Ethan's face twisting in horror; his body, shaking in rage.

Ethan growled, "I'll KILL THEM! Those fucking monsters killed her!" Then, he broke down. Ethan wept, "My poor sister. Claire was such a sweet girl. She was always cheerful and kind to everyone. I feel like, I want to make all of them feel the pain I feel!" Gajeel knew that feeling well. He consoled, "Trust me, kid, I want ta do the same. Do ya want ta work with us? I'm sure, we could use someone who can get information from those fuckers." Ethan readily agreed, "I'll do anything to get my revenge for Claire."


	6. Chapter 6: Natsu, Sting, and Rogue

Natsu woke up when a bucket of water splashed on him. He felt disoriented. That horrible powder had caused him to choke and go unconscious. He studied his surroundings, hoping to find anything recognizable. He heard, "Natsu?" Following the sound, he turned his head to see Sting and Rogue sitting in a cage with him. Natsu asked, "How long was I out?" Rogue said, "We don't know for sure, but you've been unconscious in our cage for 2 days. Whatever the put in that powder they blow in our face, it's powerful. Have some water." Natsu frantically drank it down.

He asked Sting, "How long have you guys been here?" Sting stated, "We've been here for a few days. I don't know what they want with us. They keep talking about some sort of ritual. I can tell you we've been seeing other guys in cages, too. You know how Laxus is a second generation dragon slayer? We've seen 8 men undergoing the process, for some reason. They're making those poor guys go through the painful transformation in fucking cages! I don't know what the hell is going on, but we've been dragged a few places, too. I guess they were going to do this ritual in that cave you were captured in, but they figured it was too dangerous there." Natsu shuddered. He heard how painful it was supposed to be from Laxus.

Natsu examined the bars. He said, "This'll be a cinch to get outta here. I just have to melt the bars." He commanded, "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame." Nothing happened. "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame," he repeated. Still nothing happened. "What the hell?" he yelled. Rogue calmly said, "They put these magic depleting cuffs on us. Trust me, we've been trying for days." Natsu banged on the bars in frustration.

Sting and Rogue looked exhausted. They hadn't been eating much since their capture. Sting cautioned, "Fair warning, Natsu. Those bastards know about our weakness to transportation." Natsu looked alarmed. He complained, "They're using our motion sickness against us?" Rogue nodded and added, "Yeah. They occasionally move the cage on purpose to punish us." Clanking sounds came from underneath the cage. Sting's and Rogue's faces expressed dread, because they knew what was to come. Natsu looked confused, then angry, and then sick, as the cage violently moved back and forth. After ten minutes, the cage went back to position. The robed group sprayed the cage of the vomit. Natsu recovered enough to yell, "Let us go, you fuckers! What's the big idea?" A robed man's smirk was seen under his hood. That enraged Natsu further. He snarled, "LET US GO!" The robed men left without saying a word.

As they sat in the cage, Natsu asked, "Have you guys seen Happy?" Sting and Rogue shook their heads no. Natsu looked anxious. He said, "I was with Happy! I have no idea where he is. The last thing I knew, he dropped me and was falling down a chasm..." His face was distraught. He wailed, "Happy! He might be..." Rogue put his hand on Natsu's shoulder and gave a sympathetic look. He said, "Sting and I are just as worried for our little guys too. While we were choking, Frosch and Lector tried to help us, too. We couldn't do anything as those monsters beat them. The last we saw, those bastards left our exceeds to die by the road. We have no idea if they're alive or not. I can still see my little Frosch. They beat him so badly." Sting angrily promised, "If I get out of here, I swear I'll kill anyone who killed my Lector."

Wails of pain were heard further in the cave. Natsu wondered, "What the hell is that?" Sting answered, "Those are the poor bastards going through the transformation. We haven't figured out why they're doing that. They keep mentioning a ritual, so it's maybe a religious ceremony." Natsu looked confused. He asked, "What's that supposed to do?" Rogue offered, "Maybe these people believe dragon slayers or dragons are gods. I'm not sure, but they sure seem to want to appease their gods with a ceremony or something." Sting grimaced, "Yeah, but these people don't seem like the type to gently go to a temple to sit in a service and go back home for a special meal. I have a bad feeling these are the 'let's sacrifice a person' type." Natsu lividly maintained, "Whatever these fuckers believe, I don't care. I just want to get out of here to find Happy." Sting glumly added, "If we survive that long."


	7. Chapter 7: Sabertooth Arrives

Erza, Gray, and Happy were eager to find Lucy soon. Gray ran through an alley, following what he thought was a red robed cult member. All he did was run into Orga.

"Ouch!" he shouted. Sabertooth's team had just arrived. Rufus reported, "Gray! We're so sorry for our delay. The path was a bit muddier than we thought. What are you running around for? Have you found the guys yet?" Gray rubbed his chest. He informed, "No problem about the delay. I'm running around, because those assholes in red robes kidnapped Lucy. We're searching for her, but I have a feeling we're going to find her at the same place as the other guys. Come on, let's go to this one pub. Gajeel's there, and I have a feeling everyone else is too."

Gray and Sabertooth's team walked back into the pub. Erza was already there, formulating a plan with the map Ethan provided. Happy flew in, yelling, "I followed them to this cave down in that gorge behind town." Erza praised, "That's great! We need to get there as soon as possible." Erza sat down at the table to talk with Rufus about strategy.

Frosch and Lector sat at a table with Happy. Lector looked at Happy's injuries. He curiously asked, "Did they do that to you?" Happy nodded, sadly admitting, "They got me with a dart. I fell hard onto a pillar in a chasm. If I hadn't fallen on that small pillar, I would have died. What about you guys?" Lector looked stricken. He recounted, "They got both of us. They beat us and left us for dead. I just want to go back and get our friends back." Frosch added, "Fro does too." Happy looked determined, declaring, "We'll get our friends back, no matter what."

Yukino called the Sabertooth exceeds over. She planned, "All right, boys. We're headed to that cave Happy went to. The pub owner, Ethan, has a map of at least some of the caves and caverns." She placed the map labeled _The Dragon's Den_ on the table. She pointed out, "Erza, Orga, and Rufus are heading to the front of the cavern. Gray, Gajeel, and Happy are going to this side cave here. Lector, Frosch, you're going to join me at this back entrance into Dragon's Den. From this map, you can see the tunnels lead to this main corridor here. Let's go!"

Erza, Orga, and Rufus went over to a hill overlooking the cavern entrance. Two guards were outside the entrance. Rufus stealthily used magic to hypnotize each guard into perceiving the other was Natsu or Sting. They both knocked one another out with their own powders. Erza whispered, "I'm impressed. Maybe we don't have to go through a full on assault." Rufus responded, "I hope to avoid that, yes. Stealth is our weapon. We don't want those people hurting our mages." The three of them approached the entrance of the cavern. Unfortunately, their luck had run out. They observed a huge group of guards ready to fight them. Rufus evaded a blast from a guard's magic ring. Orga sighed, "So much for stealth." He placed his hands in front to call forth the Black Lightning Cannon. Black lightning crackled from the cannon and charged forth towards the guards. Rufus was combining magics to easily handle the guards. Erza requipped and immediately went into a full assault.

A mage in a red cloak came out. He sneered, "Wizards shouldn't be treating common folk like that. How about I even the odds?" He blew a powder in Rufus's face. Rufus's eyes went blank behind his mask. Erza screamed, "Rufus!" The enemy wizard whispered something in Rufus's ear. Before Orga or Erza could lay a finger on the enemy mage, he used a teleportation lacrima. Erza's sword clanged onto the cavern wall, where the mage had been. "Damn! I missed!" yelled Erza.

Orga checked on Rufus, as Erza tied up the unconscious guards. Orga asked, "Rufus? Are you okay?" Rufus just looked at him blankly, asserting, "Yes. I'm more than okay. You've just made your biggest mistake. You crossed with the wrong mage! I'll finally be able to get revenge on my enemies: Orga and Erza." Orga was taken aback, saying,"Rufus, that's not funny. What on Earthland could Erza or I have possibly done to suddenly become an enemy?" Rufus shouted, "You will pay for what you did to my mother!" Erza defended, "I've never even met your mother!" Orga reminded Rufus, "Your mother is fine. We saw her last month. Remember? She even brought the guild cookies." Rufus stated, "Lies! Erza and you colluded together to kill my sweet mother, all to get to me." Erza looked bewildered, adding, "Whatever that guy blew in your face, you need to snap out of it." Rufus simply said, "Requip." All of a sudden, he pulled out an enormous sword. Then, he angrily pointed the blade and both Erza and Orga. Rufus hissed, "Prepare to die!"


	8. Chapter 8: Lucy

Lucy woke up in a cage. "Where am I?" She looked down to see she was wearing a white dress. "What am I wearing?" She started hyperventilating. She deduced, 'Someone touched me. I am not in my own clothes!' She freaked out, trying to figure out if someone may have done something sleazy to her. 'I think I'm still a virgin. So why do this?' She then felt around on her body. She realized her keys were missing. She whispered, "Where are my keys?"

A group of women walked toward her cage. Lucy hoped they could help. "Hello! I think there's a mistake here. I need to go home." The women all giggled at Lucy's desperate cries. Lucy was in utter disbelief. She thought, 'These women are associated with these people?' She pleaded, "Why are you laughing? This is hardly a laughing matter. You need to let me go." One of the older women mused, "Oh. You're just like the others. You cry and whine, but know this. You're getting the ultimate honor." Lucy was confused. She asked, "What honor would that be?" A younger woman in the group said, "Why, the honor to have your soul be reborn as a dragon. You'll be ideal for the ultimate ritual. You're so beautiful, and we know you're a virgin."

Lucy demanded, "And how do you know about my virginity?" A woman with gray hair said, "I'm Sal. I'm something of a midwife and female doctor. I made sure your hymen was intact." Lucy felt violated and disgusted. She yelled, "That is a gross violation of my privacy! Besides, hymens can break from stuff like horseback riding." Sal smiled. She said, "You're correct about that. A hymen can break for any number of activities. However, we also happen to have another source as well."

She pulled out a Sorcerer Monthly magazine featuring Erza, Lucy, Yukino, and Kagura on the cover. The article featured was all about peer pressure. There were other women featured in the article, discussing how to deal with peer pressure for drugs, sex, sexual harassment, and bullying. The four women on the cover told the magazine about their virginal status to show other girls that it was okay to be a virgin. Lucy remembered being proud of the article for saying it was nothing to be ashamed of. She also felt like it was a great reminder that girls and women didn't have to fall to peer pressure if they didn't want it. Now, this article she was so proud of was being used against her. She demanded, "Why do you care if I'm a virgin?" Sal sneered, "Well, our dragon slayer ritual certainly needs a virgin sacrifice doesn't it?" Lucy's face was red with rage. "Sacrifice?! What sacrifice?" she screeched.

The younger woman, Laura, said, "Well, you are to be given to the alpha. Once you give the ultimate sacrifice, you appease the dragons, so they don't come back. If the first generation slayers become the alphas and betas, your soul might allow you to be reborn into a dragon." Lucy looked at these women like they were insane. She asked, "So how am I given to this alpha?" Laura gushed, "When the tournament is finished, there will be an alpha and 2 betas. This year it's special. We'll have the first generation slayers go up against our own slayers. If they win, you'll be given to the alpha. We don't know what will happen. Some years the alpha is benevolent; most of the time, he's malevolent. Whatever happens is up to the alpha."

Lucy was looking for any way out. She saw her keys on the belt of the older woman, Doris. Lucy beckoned Doris close to her. Lucy appealed to her kindness and said, "Hey. I know you guys believe this stuff. I don't want you to think I don't respect your religion. But, I don't believe my soul will be reborn into a dragon. Please, I don't want to die. Please! Let me go! I'm begging you." The lady laughed in her face. She taunted, "Miss Lucy, you are receiving the ultimate honor. Appreciate it." Lucy slyly palmed her keys back, while saying through gritted teeth, "If you feel it's such an honor, why don't you give yourself up for this?" The woman smiled, saying, "Of course, I would have, but I'm a married woman." Lucy incredulously yelled, "So I'm being punished for being single?!" The ladies ignored her, walking off as Lucy seethed in her cage.

As soon as the women were out of the room, she pulled out her keys. She tried calling any spirit but realized there seemed to be a barrier that sucked her magical energy. She placed her hand between the bars with her keys. She thought, 'Here goes nothing.' She whispered, "Open! Gate of the Lion. Leo!" Loke came out, asking, "Lucy! What's going on?" Lucy put on a relieved face. She informed Loke, "Natsu, Sting and Rogue were kidnapped for some strange ritual. They want me for a virgin sacrifice. I'll explain later. Just get me out of here!" Loke tried using magic but it didn't work. She said, "There's a strange barrier to magic." Loke found an enormous rock and broke the cage door. "At least I have brute strength," he beamed. Lucy quietly sneaked out. She whispered, "Thanks, Loke. Come on."

They walked through a passageway quietly, trying to keep out of sight. She whispered, "Loke, we have to find Natsu, as soon as we can." As they went further in, they saw 8 men in cages, some moaning in pain. She was horrified by the cruel treatment these poor men were given. She asked, "Why are they hurting them?" Loke looked over at them, and whispered, "Lucy, I think they're making dragon slayers like Laxus." She wondered, "Those horrible women mentioned a tournament. Do you think these men are in it?" Loke shrugged his shoulders. Lucy whispered, "We should let these guys out."

Before they could open a cage, Loke grabbed Lucy and hid in the shadows. Four men in robes entered the room and went to 2 cages. Lucy and Loke watched as the men in the cages were given a drink. Lucy's eyes widened as the men's eyes became reptilian and their fangs got longer over the course of 10 minutes. Then they were given a second drink. Loke and Lucy were astonished as they observed the men acting violent, wild, and aggressive. Loke's expression indicated to Lucy it was too dangerous to free those men yet. They watched as the guards brought the two men's cages into another room. Loke whispered, "Come on. Let's see what they're doing."

Lucy and Loke hid in an alcove above a caged arena where the violent artificial slayers' cages were brought. They watched as a whole crowd of people in cloaks chanted, "Alpha! Alpha!" Lucy looked at Loke, confused. They watched as a man in a white cloak walked out. He pulled off his hood. He held his hand up, "Silence! I promised this year was special. This year, we have 8 second generation dragon slayers and 3 first generation dragon slayers to commemorate our 10th anniversary of the ritual. This year's festivities will be different. We will conduct the normal competition, but we will have a small competition to see who among the first generation is their alpha. Then we will have the alpha and his betas fight against our alpha and his beta. We even caught a magical virgin this year. We're still trying to collect the other two virgins. But it will be soon. Have I ever let my people be disappointed?" The crowd cheered and chanted, "Quincy! Quincy!" He put his hand up to silence the crowd again. He proclaimed, "Now, let's start the first competition!"

Quincy walked out of the ring and locked it behind him. The two cages' doors were opened from above. The snarling, violent men trudged out of their cages. Loke and Lucy watched the men attack one another in a particularly cruel battle. A wave of concern rushed over Lucy. She thought, 'Are they going to do this to Natsu, Sting, and Rogue?' She couldn't help but be horrified as these men bit, scratched, kicked, punched, and choked each other with their entire being. As the battle became more terrifying, she put her face in Loke's shirt. She could still hear every bone crunch, every splatter of blood, every crack and howl. Loke whispered, "Don't look up yet," in her ear. He looked on to see a sickening display of cruelty below them, all with a cheering audience. One slayer ripped the other man's heart from his chest. Loke held Lucy's face to his chest to prevent her from looking up. He whispered, "Just don't look, Lucy." He shuddered, as he watched the winner rip into the heart. The audience cheered "Haegl Draca!" Quincy yelled from above, "We have a winner! We shall adjourn for 2 hours, while we set up the next competition!" The crowd cheered, "Alpha! Alpha!"

Lucy and Loke ran out of that area as fast as they could. Lucy was visibly sick, whispering, "They're going to do that to those men? They plan on doing that to Natsu and the dragon slayer twins? These people are so sick. I can't even handle this. I don't even want to think about what they were planning to do with me." Loke was next to her, thinking hard about something. He realized, "Lucy, I don't want to freak you out, but I've seen stuff like that before. There have been some pretty extreme religions, but this is pretty out there. This appears to be a variant of an extreme sect that existed 100 years ago called Draco's Sons. They were a cult that thought providing a sacrifice of dragon slayers would appease the dragons to leave their villages alone." Lucy whispered, "And the virgin girl?" He answered, "There seems to be an obsession with virgin girls, huh? I guess that was to sweeten the pot." Lucy scowled. Loke whispered, "Either way, we need to find those guys as soon as possible. We also have to try to break those other guys out of their cages too." Lucy looked worried. She looked at him and said, "I hope we save them in time. I want my friends to be alive."

Suddenly, an announcement was made, "The virgin girl has escaped!" Loke looked at Lucy. "That's our cue to hide." Lucy looked at him with fear in her eyes: "Let's get out of here. We need to find those guys now."


	9. Chapter 9: Yukino's Power

Yukino, Lector, and Frosch were silently going further in to the cavern from the back entrance. The pointy stalactites and stalagmites were making it hard for the exceeds to fly around. The pathway wasn't well traveled for a reason: it was a dangerous and precarious, complete with a steadily filling pool. Had it not been for the exceeds, Yukino would have had to turn back when the pathway was blocked.

They came to a point where there was a very tight passage where a rock slide had fallen down, leaving a very thin area above the rocks to slide through. Lector and Frosch managed to fit in, but Yukino was having difficulty. She joked, "Maybe I shouldn't have eaten so many sweets the past couple weeks." Lector said, "Don't be silly, Yukino. You're tiny." Frosch added, "Fro thinks so too." Yukino may have been petite, but it was a struggle for her to slide in. As she looked behind her, she became concerned. She saw the area behind them was flooding. Apparently, the rock slide had made an unintentional dam. The water was flooding the pathway behind her. If she didn't get out of there, she might die. She felt her hips get stuck. Frosch and Lector pulled on her arms. Lector said, "Suck in your gut!" Yukino bit out, "I'm not fat! This is just ridiculously tight!"

Then she felt her key ring rubbing against her hip. She almost dislocated her arm to grab her keys from her hip. She pulled the key Libra, and called it. Libra showed up, asking, "Can I do something for you?" Yukino struggled, saying, "Can you use gravity on specific rocks? We need to move some of them so I can move. I'm stuck here." Libra made some of the rocks lighter. Lector and Frosch took the specially light rocks away. Yukino said, "Thank you!" Libra said, "You're welcome." Libra went back to the Celestial Realm. Water rushed through the holes made by moving the rocks. Yukino looked at the exceeds and said, "Thank you, everyone. Let's run out of here."

As they ran away from the incoming water, they were at a fork in the path. One path went upwards; the other went further downhill. Yukino looked distressed, as she saw water flooding the path. She said, "Ethan told us to go downhill, but if we do, we'll drown!" Lector and Frosch didn't wait a second. They picked her up and flew toward the uphill path. Yukino looked up at the two exceeds. Lector looked serious. He said, "We'll figure this out, Yukino. We'll find Sting and Rogue, even if we have to go on an alternative path. We're strong." Frosch said, "Fro thinks so too. We'll find another way." Yukino had misgivings, but she knew this was all they could do. She said, "All right. Let's see where this leads."

They soared uphill, until the path lead to a huge chasm. At the bottom were Natsu's, Sting's, and Rogue's cages. Yukino nodded to the two exceeds with a serious face. She quietly had Lector fly her down to the cage. Sting and Rogue immediately recognized their friends' scents. Yukino gracefully landed in front of Sting's cage door. She called Polaris to break the locks on all the cages. She took a pin from her hair and picked the lock on Sting's shackles. Sting immediately hugged her. She blushed as she looked up at him. She asked, "Sting?" He whispered, "You are a sight for sore eyes!" He then passionately kissed her. He admitted, "I thought I would never see you again." She was dazed for a second, then said, "Uh, likewise." She asked, "How come you couldn't get out?" Sting explained, "There's some sort of magic depleting magic in our cages and these shackles." She saw Polaris was done breaking the locks. She said, "Thank you, Polaris. I'll deal with this." Polaris went back to the Celestial Realm. Yukino noticed Sting looked weak. She said, "Let me help you out of the cage." As soon as they got out of the cage, he smiled and hugged Yukino again. "Thank you, Yukino."

Lector soared over and hugged Sting. Sting was so happy to see he was alive, he had tears in his eyes. Sting cried, "I thought they killed you. I was so destroyed inside." Lector just cried in his arms.

Yukino picked the shackles' locks in both Rogue's and Natsu's cages. Yukino noticed Rogue and Natsu were weakened, as well. She assisted Rogue out of his cage. She asked, "Didn't they feed you?" Rogue said, "We've mostly gotten water and a piece of bread a day for a week." Yukino grumbled, "These people are so cruel!" She assisted Rogue over to Frosch. Rogue smiled with tears in his eyes. "Frosch! I thought they killed you. I'm so happy to see you." Frosch sobbed in Rogue's arms. Frosch choked out, "Fro is happy to see you, too." Yukino whispered, "Lector, Frosch! I need you to fly us up onto that ledge." Lector silently picked up Sting and soared up to their previous pathway. Frosch followed with Rogue in tow. Lector went down to get Natsu. Frosch was struggling to let go of Rogue. Rogue whispered, "I'm fine, buddy. Just get Yukino, and we can get out of here." Natsu was brought up. Rogue said, "Just get her, before we're caught." Frosch reluctantly let go of Rogue and flew down for Yukino.

As soon as Lector got Natsu up top, a guard yelled, "The first generation slayers have escaped! Warn the rest!" Yukino hid as well as she could. More men ran into the room. The guard saw her white coat, and yelled "Intruder!" Yukino ran as fast as she could, but the guard grabbed her by the hair. She yelped in pain. The guard examined her and whispered in her ear, "And look what we have here! Another one of those virgins from that Sorcerer Weekly article. Perfect! That blonde celestial mage escaped, but we won't make that same mistake, will we? We'll find her soon, too. You both will be perfect as the ultimate sacrifices for our ritual." She gritted her teeth in pain, saying, "I don't know what this ritual you're talking about is, but I have no intention of being your virgin sacrifice." She then stepped on his foot and elbowed him in the groin. As he howled in pain, Yukino sprinted as fast as she could to avoid him and the other men. Frosch soared quickly to grab her. One of the men almost got a hold of Yukino's coat, but she roundhouse kicked him in the face. The man growled, "Get her!"

Up on the ledge, the men stood speechless as Yukino was fighting for her freedom. Their hearing definitely picked up on 'virgin sacrifice', so they were angry these people seemed to target their friends as well. All three men were frustrated about their weakened states: the dehydration, the starvation, and the magic depletion had taken their toll. They could barely stand, much less use their magical attacks. As a man got close to Yukino to grabbing her arm, Sting screamed, "Fuck it! I can't let her be a sitting duck. White Dragon's Claw!" A bright light blinded the men and blasted them to the side. Sting fell on the ground, completely weakened. Frosch quickly picked Yukino up and flew her up to the ledge. She said, "Let's go! We'll try to help you guys." They ran back down the path.

When they got to the fork, it was already flooding. Yukino said, "Guys, we have a problem. The area we started in is completely flooded. We can't escape the way we came in. There is another pathway, but I'm worried we'll drown if we go that way too." Natsu said, "We'll have to chance it. Thanks, by the way. You and Luce are the best. I'm worried about them saying Luce was captured. I'm just glad she escaped." Rogue was concerned. He asked, "What was that virgin sacrifice stuff? I feel like this group is getting more and more evil as we speak." Frosch said, "Fro thinks so too." Rogue smiled gently at his sweet exceed. He hugged him. He reiterated, "Fro, I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried about you." Fro looked at him with tears in his eyes; he said, "Fro thought you were...Fro was scared for you too."

As they ran to the fork, they turned left. They ran into a low tunnel, the water already up to their knees. Yukino gasped. She said, "It's already flooded!" Sting said, "It's alright. We can swim when we run out of ground to run on. We don't have time to think about it." All four mages swam in the flooded tunnel. The two exceeds floated above. As they approached the end of the tunnel, Natsu saw the sheer number of guards approaching at the end. "Shit! They're here!" he yelled. They turned around and swam back as fast as possible. Most of the guards swam after them. Natsu could feel the splashes of the guards just behind them. He yelled, "They're almost catching up!"

When most of the guards were in the water, Yukino said, "I've got a plan. Just get to the path." They managed to get to the path and were running. Yukino pulled Libra from her keychain. She looked at her colleagues with a serious face. She warned, "Guys, I need your trust. Please, all of you, hang onto something. I want you to eventually make a chain together. In the meantime, hang on with all of your strength." Sting and Rogue immediately understood, but Natsu was confused. Sting sternly said, "Natsu. Trust her." Natsu held onto a very heavy rock. Yukino called out, "Open the Gate of the Heavenly Scales! Libra!" When Libra showed up, she commanded, "Libra, I need you to give us zero gravity." Libra answered, "Understood."

Immediately, everyone felt weightless. Natsu was shocked when he felt he had to hold onto the rock; he was floating in the air. He noticed that Yukino wasn't affected by the gravity alteration, but everyone else was subject to the zero gravity conditions. The guards in the flooded tunnel were alarmed as the water splashed up with them into an enormous liquid bubble. Their faces showed horror, as they struggled to get air. Some of them were showing signs they were drowning in the bubble. Yukino grabbed the weightless slayers and exceeds in a chain and ran by the people in the bubble. They had gotten to the other side of the tunnel. When most of the men appeared to be close to be drowning, she let gravity go back to normal. They all fell with a thump. The water splashed dangerously on the struggling guards. Natsu looked back to see the men desperately attempting to escape the swirling, violent water. Coughing and hacking could be heard echoing in the tunnel as Yukino lead the men and their exceeds down the corridor.

As they ran down the hall, they could still hear the guards struggling to breathe. Natsu said, "Remind me not to piss off Luce as much. If she can do that kind of stuff, I'm thinking she could totally kill me. Good job, Yukino! I have to fight you when we get some free time." Sting rolled his eyes at Natsu. Sting mentioned, "Yukino, I've never seen zero gravity's effects on water before. That was awesome!" Rogue added, "And terrifying." Frosch said, "Fro thinks so too." Yukino sheepishly responded, "It was the only plan I could think of to get past the guards."


	10. Chapter 10: Meeting Up

They ran down the pathway, trying to be as quiet as possible. Natsu sniffed the air. He whispered, "I smell Luce!" He followed the scent until they found a small alcove, where Lucy and Loke were hiding. Natsu stopped, as he saw guards run past. Lucy was terrified about being caught. It was obvious to Natsu she was traumatized about something. Loke was doing his best to calm Lucy. Once the guards were out of the way, Natsu ran up to Lucy and hugged her. She sobbed in his chest. "Natsu! I thought those people had you." He answered, "They did. Yukino just saved our asses." Lucy went over to Yukino and hugged her as hard as she could. Lucy gratefully said, "Thank you, Yukino." Lucy let the hug linger.

Yukino said, "Are you okay? You look worried." Lucy started breathing hard. Natsu rubbed her back. Her lip quivered as she said, "They want to do horrible things to us. They wanted to kill me. They are making dragon slayers like Laxus; then they give them two potions. The first one makes them more reptilian, the second makes them wild. Afterwards, they make them fight to the death. They're trying to make them fight until there's an alpha and two betas. They were going to do the same to you guys. Then they would have you guys fight against the other alpha and betas. They would leave the alpha and his betas as a winner. Then, I gathered, they would just send me down, while all the slayers were wild, so I could be torn to death." Natsu's face looked haunted. He realized, 'Not only were they going to cause our deaths, but Luce's?' He hugged her again. Sting whispered to Loke, "Is that true?" Loke answered, "We, uh, saw it. She's freaked out because she heard the bones cracking, blood splattering. I didn't let her watch the winner pull the loser's heart out of his chest. It's surprisingly loud. She stopped watching in the middle of the first match. It got way too disturbing."

Natsu angrily snarled, lowly, "Those fuckers will pay!" Rogue asked Loke, "Why are you staying here?" Loke whispered, "They found out Lucy escaped. We heard them say they wanted three virgins. We're guessing Erza and Yukino are being targeted, too." Rogue put his finger to his lips. He could hear someone coming. They looked over to see the leader, Quincy, 30 feet down walking through the caged arena. A guard ran up to Quincy. "Sir! The three dragon slayers escaped, with the help of a white haired girl. We're looking for them, along with the blonde girl. We found a different virgin in a different town." Quincy's eyes gleamed in recognition, saying, "That white haired girl must have been Yukino of Sabertooth." The guard said, "Sir, what do we do?" Quincy angrily yelled, "We need those slayers for our ultimate sacrifice. Get them! And get those two virginal Celestial maidens too! Those women will be perfect as the ultimate sacrifice to Draco."

Up in the alcove, Lucy and Yukino were silently panicking. They really were being targeted. Sting was rubbing Yukino's back. Natsu hugged Lucy. Loke seethed in anger. He knew the Celestial spirit Draco personally. 'Draco would never ask that of anyone.' Loke thought, 'We destroyed that cult 100 years ago. Why are they back?' He whispered to Lucy, "I'll come back soon. I have to talk to a friend in the Celestial Realm. Natsu, I'm trusting you with her." He disappeared. Natsu said under his breath, "Hmph! As if I need reminding to take care of her. She's my best friend! Stupid lion." Then he hugged Lucy harder, and kissed the top of her head.

Rogue was still watching Quincy and the guard speaking. Their voices got lower, so the dragon slayers were the only ones who could hear the conversation. Quincy said, "By the way, who is this new virgin you found?" The man pulled out a magazine with Erza, Lucy, Yukino, and Kagura on the front. He pointed to Kagura's picture. Rogue's eyes widened. Quincy laughed, saying, "She must have been formidable." The guard laughed, adding, "She hasn't woken up yet. We paid a pub owner near Mermaid Heel region to drug her food and drink. Once she passed out, we threw her sword to the side of the road and transported her here." Quincy laughed. He quipped, "These women put a huge target on themselves with this magazine. We'll have our sacrificial maidens soon enough. Even if we lose the first generation slayers, we'll still complete our ritual with them." They heard Quincy and the guard cackling, as they walked down the hall.

Rogue was concerned. "Kagura was kidnapped too?" he whispered. Lucy asked, "What? Did you say Kagura from Mermaid Heel?" Rogue looked downright murderous. Sting immediately knew the implications, sighing, "Calm down, Rogue. I promise we'll find your girlfriend, okay?"

Lucy was surprised, asking, "You're dating Kagura?" Rogue nodded and said, "Well, we haven't been announcing it to the world, but yes. We've been dating about 8 months." Sting put his hand on Rogue's shoulder, and said, "Rogue, I have a feeling you're going to kill them for Frosch alone. Calm down! We don't need any more blood on our hands." Rogue growled, "Who the hell are these monsters? Did you know those assholes used Kagura's and Yukino's nice photo spread from a few months ago to target you ladies?" Lucy looked down and confided, "Yes. They seemed to use my speech about being proud to be a virgin against me." Natsu was livid. He ordered, "We have to go find Kagura." Lucy understood. She said, "Follow me. I'll show you the room."


	11. Chapter 11: The Men in Cages

Happy, Gajeel and Gray had gotten caught up in a lot of battles. They had finally gotten past a lot of those guards. Gray wondered, "How many more of these guys do we have to fight?" Gajeel taunted, "Gihi. Are you saying you're tired? Do you need me to read ya a bed time story?" Gray scowled, "Shut up, Gajeel! We seriously need to find everyone. I feel like we haven't found a single person we know." They ran down the corridor until Gajeel stopped. Gray turned around. He asked, "What?"

Gajeel could hear the pained voices of men going through the lacrima transformation. He looked at Gray earnestly, "Come here. We have a side project to do." He led Gray and Happy into a room. They saw 7 men in misery. One man had blood all over his torn clothes. It was hard to tell if it was even his blood or someone else's. Happy saw the misery around him and asked Gajeel, "What are we doing? Are we going to find them medicine?" Gajeel looked determined and asserted, "We're goin' ta get these guys away from this cult's sick ritual."

Luckily, the cages the men were currently in had no magic deflecting barrier. All Gray had to do was freeze the locks or Gajeel would just eat the iron on the bars. Happy, Gajeel, and Gray were getting frustrated, though. The men refused to leave the cage.

Happy went to one of the men, saying, "You're free! You need to run away from here. The people here have a sick ritual where you'll die." One man got up and said, "That's the idea. We're here to prevent any more dragons from coming back. We are Draco's Sons. We will appease him by becoming dragon slayers, then drinking 2 potions. The person who comes back hasn't had his soul fly up to the heavens yet." Gajeel growled out, "Do ya know what happens after you take those potions?" The man looked offended. He stated, "Of course I do. We take the first potion to become more like a dragon. Then we take the second to prepare our souls for Draco's choosing. We may act wild, but it's only temporary. Then Draco picks which soul goes beyond comprehension. The other one comes back to wait his turn."

Gajeel was not surprised. He had gotten the impression the last batch of guys undergoing that process were just as naive as this man was. Gajeel got down on his haunches. "That's a nice story. But do ya know what they do once you act wild? What do ya hear with those new ears of yours?" The man nervously said, "When Kai and Daika left, the crowd kept chanting Alpha." Gajeel looked him square in the eye. "Do ya know what alpha means?" The man looked down, admitting, "Yes. Kind of like a wolf. The alpha male." Gajeel asked, "How does that fit into your cute lil' story?" The man looked at Gajeel with unease. He confessed, "I guess I don't understand that part." Gray stepped in, pointing to the unconscious bloody man. He demanded, "And your friend here, covered in blood?" The man became uncomfortable. The man shuffled in the cage, proclaiming, "We at first hoped it was a lot of body paint for the ceremony." Gray sternly said, "I haven't seen paint that clots." Gajeel snorted. He said, "You know what that scent is. I'm sure the scent is so strong now, you can almost taste it."

Gajeel said, "You guys have no idea what you've signed up for. I was caught a few years ago by these same people. They caged me in front of this arena. I could hear another group o' guys wailin' and moanin', as they turned in ta dragon slayers. I saw that same innocence in their eyes, as I see in yours. What they didn't know was those potions made them like feral beasts. They would separate two of them, let them fight to the death, then bring the winner back to rest. Then they would do the same to the others, until there's an alpha and two betas. They would bring out a poor virgin girl they kidnapped. She looked drugged or somethin'. Those three guys raped and killed her. They even played with her corpse afterwards. Do you want to do somethin' like that?"

The man said, "But Quincy said we were the chosen Draco's Sons. He never mentioned fighting or a virgin." The men in the cages were looking uncertain. Another man asked, "How can we believe you? How did you escape?" Gajeel looked at the second man and said, "As a dragon slayer, I promise this is true. As for how I got out..." He chomped down on the iron bars of the first man's cell. The first man looked heartbroken. He asked, "How could they lie to us?"

Gajeel, Gray, and Happy pitied these caged men. Gray answered, "I feel like nobody would easily agree to this ritual. I mean, it sounds like you're hearing it for the first time, am I right?" The men all nodded. Gajeel said, "I am pretty sure you're already in agony. You're tryin' to change to a dragonslayer too fast. Yer tyin' to transform in 3 days, right? It normally takes a month just to let the lacrima kick in. Plus, yer not gettin' any training." Gray added, "So you're trying to become second generation dragon slayers in only 3 days? Laxus had to train constantly for 3 years just to control his powers at a basic level." Gajeel lamented, "I said I escaped before. I didn't save anyone. I only managed to get out, when they were about to sacrifice me. If I don't at least educate you about what you're doin', I'll feel the worst. I want to help you guys escape. Please. Don't make me watch another group o' men beat each other to death. Those assholes want to make you monsters for their entertainment. You deserve better."

Gray interjected, "And these people have our friends. Gajeel watched that batch of lacrima dragon slayers rip each other apart. I'm worried they'll try to do the same to our friends." Happy flew over to Gray, and commented, "I still don't understand why they want Lucy." Gajeel harshly said, "Bunny Girl is a virgin. That's enough to be concerned they're trying to make her the virgin sacrifice." The men sat in their cages, unsure what to do.

Another man said, "But...we have done this for the past 10 years to prevent dragons from coming back." Gajeel snorted. "Gihi. A few years back, we had the Grand Magic Games and beat Sabretooth. That year, a special gate was opened, and dragons walked through it. They destroyed that town. All of us worked together to stop them, but it took Natsu breaking the gate to prevent them from coming through. Not one of us dragon slayers accomplished the goal of killing a single dragon, even working together." Happy said, "Our friend Mest had to work so hard to make everyone forget the dragons return." The man sputtered, "But if that was the case, then..." "Your people have been doing this sick ritual for nothing? We agree. Please, don't let these bastards use you as cannon fodder. To be honest, Gajeel seemed to think the elites in your religion use your violent fights as entertainment, rather than actual ceremony," said Gray.

Gray also said, "If your religion has to kidnap and murder people, that's not a decent religion. It's a crime. You guys may be volunteers, but Lucy, Natsu, Sting, and Rogue very much aren't. Please. Leave these cages." Gajeel pleaded, "I can't see another group of men die because a manipulative cult took advantage of your people." One man said, "Can we talk this over privately? I feel we should at least wait until Kai wakes up." Gajeel said, "We're waitin' for 5 minutes."

Kai woke up a minute later with a panic attack. He may have been wild during that battle, but he remembered each minute of it. He cried, "I killed him. Those potions make us feral and dangerous, then they put us in a caged arena. Daika and I fought each other to death. I ripped his heart out...then I tried to eat it." He wept in his cage. Gajeel walked in Kai's cage and hugged him. Gray was surprised to see such a caring and intimate act from his fellow guild mate. Gajeel turned to the others. He pleaded, "Please, don't make yourselves go through that."

The other men discussed for a full minute. The first man said, "We'll leave with you. We just don't know what will happen now that we have powers. We have no training." Happy smiled, "I think we have a few guilds that would be excited to see 7 new dragon slayers." Gray said, "Let's go save our friends and our new friends." Happy smiled, saying, "Aye, sir!"


	12. Chapter 12: An Uneasy Respite

Erza and Orga were sitting down by the front of their cave entrance with an unconscious Rufus in front of them. Orga complained, "That was a big pain in the ass. I'm glad he's actually on my team. Having to fight him was a nightmare." Erza nodded. She said, "This has been a big waste of time. At this point, we need to get Rufus out of here. Orga, can you take him back to the pub? Whatever those drugs were, they made it easy to manipulate him." Orga looked concerned, asking, "Should I leave you alone? I don't feel that is wise." Erza put on a serious expression. She promised, "I will go meet up with Gray, Gajeel, and Happy."

Orga had reservations, but he ran with Rufus. He stated, "I'll come back very soon." Erza said, "I know." Erza ran past the unconscious guards, down the hall. She heard a familiar female's voice lividly screaming to be let go. "Kagura?" she said.

Kagura was in a cage, wearing a white dress. Her face was red with rage. She stared down this group of women in front of her cage. Kagura demanded, "Let me go! I don't know who drugged me, but I will kill them, when I find them!"

he women seemed to be ignoring her angry pleas and threats. A guard walked in to the room. He admired Kagura's beautiful body in her cage. She cursed and yelled at the man, "Let me go! I don't know what you want with me, but there is nothing I can provide." The woman named Sal seemed to agree. She pulled out a magazine Erza recognized from 3 months ago. Sal banged on the bars and angrily yelled, "What the hell is this? I thought you said you were a virgin! This big story from 3 months ago seems to indicate as much." Kagura was offended. She sneered, "What makes you think I'm not?"

Sal pulled Kagura's hair to the side. Sal scoffed, "Well, first of all, I have a suspicion that this mark on your neck is a dragon slayer's mark. Oh, and the fact you're pregnant doesn't help things." Kagura had a face of shock, screaming, "I'm WHAT?!" Sal smirked, sneering, "Oh, you didn't know you have a high likelihood of getting pregnant the first time your dragon slayer marks you." Kagura sputtered in shock, "But Rogue used a condom every time." Sal looked at her skeptically, saying, "Well, you're certainly not a virgin. When did you lose it? Like a second after this article?" Kagura huffed, "Not that it's any of your business, but my boyfriend just recently took my virginity. It was a few weeks ago. So stop with your snide comments, lady. I'm not trying to shame you for your lack of virtues, so stop slut shaming me. Since you don't need me, just let me go."

Erza, in the shadows, was just as much in shock. This woman, who has been like a little sister to her, is sexually active. She hadn't even realized Kagura was dating Rogue. Erza lamented, 'I don't even know my little sister.' Erza saw the ladies leave. Sal grumbled, "We need to tell Quincy about this newest development. She's not a virgin, and we need a virgin sacrifice. We would have been fine with that blonde, but she escaped. BITCH!"

As soon as the women were out of the room, Erza came out of the shadows. Kagura smiled at Erza with a hopeful expression. Kagura whispered, "Erza! Get me out of here. Thank you so much!" Erza looked at Kagura with a skeptical face. She asked, "How long have you been dating Rogue?" Kagura got pissed, whispering, "What's with the interrogation? Is this really the time to be asking this?" Erza gave her an annoyed look. Kagura confessed, "Fine! 8 months." Erza was using her magic to get the door open, but the barrier kept sucking up her magic instead. Erza asked, "Why can't I open this cage?"

"I can help you with that." Erza turned around to see Yukino and the others. She saw Natsu and Lucy and immediately hugged them to her armor's breastplate. Erza said, "You scared me so much, both of you." Natsu was choking, "Erza...can't breathe." She pulled back, apologetic. She said, "I'm sorry; it's just I was actually concerned for you. These people have some sort of powder that causes you to be easily manipulated. They got to Rufus. Orga and I both had to fight him. It took so much longer than I wanted."

As soon as Yukino picked the lock, Rogue bypassed everyone and grabbed his girlfriend. He embraced her right in the cage. Kagura was really surprised to see her boyfriend there. She asked, "Rogue? What are you doing here?" He kissed her and said, "It's a long story. We have to get you out of here." Rogue saw Erza had a malevolent aura around her. Rogue asked, "Hey Erza. Can I help you? Why do you look so pissed?" Erza angrily hissed, "How could you get my little sister pregnant? You've only been dating 8 months! She's a sweet maiden, and you've defiled her."

Rogue's face was in shock. "P-pregnant? What? But I used a condom every time." Kagura looked at t he angrier face of Erza, whispering, "Uh, babe. Not the right time to mention it." Before Erza could kill Rogue, Lucy distracted her, wondering, "Where's Rufus and Orga?" As Erza explained what happened, Rogue hugged Kagura. He smiled at her. "I have a beautiful girlfriend, and she's going to have the best child in the world." He kissed her. She looked him in the eyes. She asked, "Babe? I feel like you look gaunt. Have you not been eating well?" Rogue briefly updated her on everything.

* * *

Natsu and Sting were talking about something really quietly. Sting said, "We need to tell them. We need to do that to protect them." Natsu nodded. He whispered, "You tell Yukino, and I'll tell Luce."

Sting walked up to Yukino. "Hey Yukino, can I talk with you about something?" She answered, "Sure, it's fine. What's up?" He said, "Do you remember that one conversation we had on the train a month ago? About dragon slayers?" She said, "The one where you were talking about a mark?" He nodded. "I think Natsu and I have figured out a way to protect you and Lucy from those monsters, but only if you'll agree." She looked at him, surprised. She asked, "Isn't it too early? I mean, we've only been dating for 4 months." Sting kissed her, saying "I've been wanting you for a long time. It's not too early for me. What about you? Will you agree?" She kissed him back, saying, "Okay." He smiled, saying, "Are you sure? I know this isn't the most romantic of settings." She replied, "But I know you are doing this because you love me. That's romantic enough." He said, "Guys, I need a few minutes with Yukino, here. Strategy talk." They walked into a hidden section of the cave. As soon as they out of sight, he lovingly kissed her.

* * *

Natsu said, "Hey Erza, I need to talk to Luce for a minute, okay?" He led Lucy to a quiet section of the cave. She asked, "What's up Natsu?" He looked embarrassed before confessing, "Luce, I love you." She was a bit surprised, but she blurted out, "I love you, too, Natsu." Natsu shook his head. He clarified, "I mean I love you, not just as a friend. I love you, like a man loves a woman." Lucy blushed. She shyly answered, "Same here." His eyes brightened: "Really, Luce?" She said, "Yeah. I know this isn't the ideal location to say that. When Happy came back, he told us what you went through. I was really worried about you. When I realized you might not come back, I was so terrified. I thought I had lost the man I love." He kissed her intensely.

He whispered, "Luce, there's something I need to talk to you about. Do you see that black dragon on Kagura's neck?" She peered in the dim light to study Kagura's neck. She murmured, "Whoa. That does look like a cute black dragon." Natsu nodded. He continued, "Well, that's a dragon's mark. If a dragon slayer falls in love, we can mark them forever. It guarantees the person the dragon slayer loves is absolutely taken care of. If those people make us go through that sick potion stuff, I know I won't be able to hurt you, since dragon slayer mating magic is the strongest magic there is." Lucy faced him, and asked, "What's involved in the process?" He said, "Well, I have to...bite you. And I also have to mate with you." Her eyes got large.

She nervously responded, "Um, Natsu, I don't know. This is so sudden, and I'm a virgin." Natsu smiled and kissed her. He admitted, "Luce, you're the only woman I've ever felt I've wanted to be with. You know how I almost kissed you the day before I left?" She nodded silently. He said, "The reason I went on that private mission, was I was hoping to deal with my feelings for you." She quietly said, "And your feelings now?" He kissed her again. He remarked, "I think that should answer your question. So will you let me do this? I know this is the worst place to have a first time, but I want nothing terrible to happen to you, Luce. I really do love you." She thought for a minute. She pecked him on the lips and answered, "Yes." They went to a different part of the cave in the shadows.

* * *

A few minutes later, Sting and Yukino came from that hidden area. He had a smug look on his face, and Yukino had a bright blush on her face. She shyly walked back to the others. Erza looked at her neck saying, "Hey Yukino, you might want to get that bite checked. Whatever did it looks huge. Did you run into a lot of trouble in your cave entrance?" She faced Erza, mentioning, "I don't know about the bite, but I can tell you that back entrance was the worst. You can even ask Lector and Frosch about it." Erza walked up to Lector and Frosch. She asked, "Was that cave that bad?" Lector then went into a lengthy explanation. Sting walked up to Yukino and whispered, "I guess you did a good job of deflecting questions about my little bite." She murmured, "Little? If Erza can see it, it must be large." He proudly rubbed the bite, joking, "It's just large enough." And then he kissed her.

Erza and the others were planning their next steps in that room. She surmised, "It's been a while since those people have gone out of the room. We need to leave this area. Where are Natsu and Lucy? They've been gone for 20 minutes." Natsu tapped Erza's shoulder. He had a big grin on his face, saying, "Present. Luce is over here too." Erza saw a blushing Lucy. Erza inquired, "Oh Lucy, are you feeling sick? You look all flushed, like you've been running." A bead of sweat went down Lucy's temple. She said, "Um, no, Erza. I guess I'm just fired up to go fight these bastards." Erza saw something on Lucy's neck, muttering, "Geez, whatever is biting you guys, you need to watch out. I'll see if I have any sort of disinfectant for that bite. Poor Yukino had a similar bite around her neck, too. You two need to be more careful."

Natsu looked very happy. He teased, "Yeah, Luce. I wouldn't want you to be in danger of any monster." Lucy huffed, "The only monster I'm dealing with right now is a smug dragon slayer." His smile brightened. He whispered, "I can be your monster whenever you want, Luce. Hehe. How's my beautiful mate feeling?" She whispered back, "I'm a bit sore. You could have been gentler." He glanced over to see if anyone could see them, and then kissed her when nobody was looking. He whispered, "I'm sorry Luce. I guess I was a bit excited."

Erza pulled out the map of the caves Ethan gave them. She pointed at the map, "We're here. You guys said you came from above there. We need to get to this location. It's closest to where Gray, Gajeel, and Happy entered the cavern. Natsu smiled, asking, "Happy? He's here? I thought you guys left him behind at the guild." Erza said, "No. He insisted on coming here. In fact, he's the reason we even found the correct cave entrance to go rescue Lucy. There are so many caves, we could have been spending weeks on a wild goose chase." Lucy added, "He's been as worried as I am about you. I had to push him to eat something. The little guy hadn't eaten in two days, but he was so worried about you, he didn't want to eat. He just wanted to find you." Natsu's eyes filled with tears, gushing, "I feel so loved." Lucy hugged him, answering, "Yes, you are." The group ran towards the cave where Gajeel, Gray, and Happy were. Natsu thought, 'Hold on, little buddy. We'll see you soon.'


	13. Chapter 13: The Priest's Rage

Quincy was sipping his wine, while he dined on oysters. He said, "It's time to provide the next two dragon slayers with their potions. We need to continue the ritual." He pulled out two different flasks. He poured two drops in two cups of water from the orange flask. Then, he poured two more cups of water and added two drops from the second red flask. He handed the cups to the guards to give to the volunteer dragon slayers for the next competition.

The guard asked, "And the blonde girl? We haven't located her yet." Quincy smiled, conveying, "All in due time. She can't have gotten far. It's very easy to get lost in these caves. Besides, we have another virgin with magical abilities. She's Kagura from Mermaid Heel."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," interrupted Sal. Quincy spun around and said, "What do you mean, Sal? Did my men touch her? They'll be immediately killed if you say so." Sal grimaced, responding, "I don't think you need to do that. I doubt your men touched her. Did you know that shadow dragon slayer was dating her? She has been marked by him." Quincy yelled, "What?! We went through all that effort for nothing?" Sal sighed, "We have another complication with Kagura. She's pregnant."

Quincy's jaw tightened. He gritted out, "So you're saying one of our special virgins escaped, another is pregnant, and we don't have a virgin right now? How exactly will we do our ritual?" Sal exhaled, trying to think of a way to calm him. She said, "There are two virgins in the rescue campaign for the first generation slayers. We observed Yukino of Sabertooth and Erza of Fairy Tail. We still have a chance to recapture Fairy Tail's Lucy as well."

Quincy called the guards over and ordered, "Find Fairy Tail's Erza and Lucy and Sabertooth's Yukino. All these ladies are virgins. Even if we only get one woman,and the ritual can be completed." The guards ran out. Sal stood in front of Quincy, ready for his next order. She asked, "And Kagura? What are we doing with her?" He coldly maintained, "Dead people don't tell tales." Sal faltered, sputtering, "But, she's pregnant." His eyes narrowed. He asserted, "You heard what I said. Kill her." Sal bowed, saying, "As you wish, sir." She left to go back to Kagura's cage.

Quincy stormed out of the room. 'These incompetent people can't even keep a virgin girl in her cage. The next one we capture, who is a so-called virgin girl, is pregnant. Then they allow another of those virginal girls to help the first generation slayers escape. These women are ruining everything!' he brooded. He was shaking in rage. He took deep breath, composing himself: "Calm down. The next competition will come up in a few minutes. The guards will rectify the situation by the end of the competition. At least one woman will be ready for sacrifice. We'll hopefully recapture the 3 dragon slayers. Either way, the ritual will be complete. I will guarantee not a single damn dragon will show up on my watch." He methodically put his white hood back on to prepare for the crowd.

As he walked down the path leading to the caged arena, he practiced his speech in his mind. He got up to the doors, expecting to see the two cages with the wild villagers in them. He opened the doors to see absolute chaos. The guards were running around. "The villagers escaped! They somehow got out! We still haven't found the dragon slayers yet." Another added, "Or the virgin girl."

He yelled, "WHERE ARE THEY?" A guard walked up to report. "Sir, somebody let the villagers out. It looked as if someone had chomped on the bars to their cages. We think it may have been the first generation dragon slayer we captured a few years ago. He ate iron, too." Sal ran in screaming "Kagura has escaped, too." At this point, Quincy was furious. He bellowed, "You will capture any dragon slayer, villager or first generation. You will collect at least one virgin woman from that group. If you can't collect them, you need to kill them. They are not to tell the authorities about us! We are humanity's last hope against the reemergence of dragons!" The guards rushed off to do his bidding.


	14. Chapter 14: A Stalled Escape

Yukino and Lucy walked behind the rest of the group to quietly chat. Lucy examine Yukino's bite, which was gradually turning into a white dragon. She pointed at Yukino's neck, and whispered, "Did you do that too?" Yukino inquired, "Too? When did...?" Lucy whispered, "About 10 minutes ago. I'm pretty sore. You?" Yukino nodded. She complained, "Me too. I knew time was of the essence, but I can't believe how rough Sting could be. It was really hard trying not to make noise." Lucy whispered, "I know right? It's like they forgot we were virgins beforehand." Lucy and Yukino quietly chuckled.

Lucy asked, "Do you regret it?" Yukino shook her head no, saying, "I've been in love with Sting for a while now. I know it's a bit early, considering we've only been dating a few months, but I'm okay with this." Lucy blushed bright red, mumbling, "Promise you won't judge me too badly." Yukino answered, "I won't." Lucy said, "Natsu and I haven't been dating before today." Yukino's eyebrows shot up. Lucy breathed, "I know. I've had a crush on him for a long time. I'm happy he reciprocates those feelings. And this was a unique situation." Yukino hugged her. "I won't judge you. I actually thought you would judge me as well, but you haven't done that. I admit doing that in a cave wasn't ideal, but I'm glad it was with Sting." Lucy beamed, saying, "I'm glad it was with Natsu too. I love that big goof."

Up ahead, the rest of the group was rushing to get to the exit. Erza and Kagura were leading the way using Ethan's map. Erza pointed to the entrance with a small waterfall just outside: "We're almost there!" Before they could get to the entrance, a huge group of guards came from a hidden pathway in front of them. The head guard commanded, "Get any first generation slayer and any virgin girl before you. The black haired woman and the 2 flying cats are worthless and should be killed."

That comment caused Rogue to go berserk. A group of guards approached Kagura. He snarled, "You do NOT threaten a dragon slayer's mate. She is the mother of my child and the love of my life. You harm her; you've asked for a death sentence!" He went into the shadows and used his position to sneak up on various guards, beating them within an inch of their lives. Kagura was no slouch either. She may not have had her main sword, but she had one of Erza's borrowed blades. Erza and she worked at defending each other, while Rogue, Sting, and Natsu went out of their way to provide a path for Lucy, Yukino, Lector, and Frosh to leave the cave. Next, Kagura left the cave, catching up with the other two ladies.

Sting, Natsu, Rogue, and Erza were busy in battle. While Erza was surrounded, one of the guards pulled out a powder and blew it in her face. She coughed and felt dizzy. She felt her mind slipping, until the world went black. She fell into a guard's arms. He stated, "A virgin has been collected." She was quietly lifted out of the room.

Sting yelled at Rogue, "Go take care of your mate and the other girls." Rogue questioned, "Are you sure? This is quite a formidable group." Sting punched a man in the face, causing a broken nose. He said, "I'm sure Rogue. Those women are strong, but we need to have one of us to guard them. These assholes also want to kill Lector and Frosch!" Rogue blocked a man's punch; then he knocked another guard unconscious. He spit out, "That's for Frosch!" Then he swiftly left the cave to meet the women and the exceeds.

Sting and Natsu continued to battle the remaining guards. All of a sudden, Sting was choking on that horrible powder again. Natsu saw them prepare the powder again. He yelled, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" The remaining powder was in embers. The men were knocked on the ground, burns on their faces. Natsu grabbed Sting and immediately brought him to the waterfall at the cave's entrance. Sting choked a little on the water as Natsu forced him in. Sting had an irritated face, hissing out, "Are you trying to kill me?" Natsu grinned, replying, "I just saved you! I wasn't trying to drown you. I just prevented you from choking on that horrible powder." Sting looked to the side, muttering, "Thank you." Natsu smiled, "You're welcome."

They ran over to the rest of their group. Lucy hugged Natsu, saying, "You're safe!" Rogue looked behind Natsu and Sting, asking, "Where's Erza?" Sting looked around, "I thought she was with you guys already. She wasn't in the cave when we escaped." The group looked back at the waterfall, coming to a crummy conclusion. "SHIT! We just go out of there" yelled Sting. Natsu put his hand on Sting's should, saying, "Yeah, but she's our friend. We aren't going to let her go through all that alone."

Lucy walked over to Rogue with a serious face. "Rogue, I need you and Kagura to go back to Peace Village. We need you to communicate to our guilds via communication lacrima. Also, see if you can get through to the Magic Counsel." Kagura interrupted, insisting "I can also go back into the caves! Erza is like my big sister." Rogue pulled her in a hug. He whispered "I know we can both be powerful, but you're pregnant. Do you think Erza would want you to endanger our child?" Kagura looked down. Rogue kissed her, saying, "I know you think this part isn't important, but it is to help our friends. We do need reinforcements. Plus, we need to tell your guild you're okay." She relented. He softly smiled at her. He said. "Come on, Frosch. Let's go call home. You'd like that right?" Frosch smiled at Rogue and flew on his shoulder. "Fro likes that."

Kagura hugged Lucy and Yukino. In a hushed tone, she said, "Get my sister back. And stop these monsters." Lucy and Yukino nodded. Lucy said, "Go get us some help. Get Rufus and Orga back to the caves, as well." Then Rogue, Kagura, and Frosch ran as fast as they could back to town.

Natsu, Sting, Lector, Lucy and Yukino looked at the entrance. Lucy asked Natsu, "Shall we get going?" Natsu kissed her, saying, "That's my Luce. You may act like a prissy noble sometimes, but you're totally up for a fight when we need it. I'm fired up!" They ran back into the cave.


	15. Chapter 15: The Villagers' Liberation

Gray, Gajeel, and Happy ran with the villagers. Because of the slapdash way they were transformed, they were constantly in pain. They were having to go at a slow pace. It didn't help that they had to find places to hide when guards were going past.

Two guards walked by with two cups each. Kai, the man who had gone through the competition, had huge eyes and silently panicked. Gajeel saw the man's distress. He muttered so low that a normal person wouldn't be able to hear. He knew the man could hear him now that he had dragon attributes. "Are those the potions?" The man nodded.

Gajeel looked over to the new fire dragon, Jace. "Heat up the potions so they evaporate." Jace looked confused. "How?" Gajeel thought. "Hmm. What did he call it? Natsu uses something called Fire Dragon's Roasting Bath." Jace insecurely ordered, "Fire Dragon's Roasting Bath?" He looked astonished as his entire body went on fire. The resulting heat evaporated the water, but the flames drew the guards' attention. They ran straight towards Jace with their weapons ready.

A huge iron fist knocked out the first guy. The other was frozen stiff in a huge ice cube. The other men looked at Gajeel and Gray gratefully. "Thank you," Jace said. Gray said, "No problem. We need to get you guys out of here." Gajeel pulled them all into the shadows: "Hide! I hear people coming." All of the men and Happy hid as best as they could.

They observed a number of women walking past. Erza was unconscious and in a white dress on a cart. The tallest woman asked a middle aged woman, "Is she the real deal, Sal?" The woman, Sal, answered, "Yes. She is a virgin, just like that blonde is. I checked her myself. Too bad blondie escaped. It would have been amazing to have the Celestial maidens. Still, this one will make a perfectly adequate virgin sacrifice. She's Titania, Queen of the Fairies. All we have to do is wait until we have some dragon slayers in wild mode; then there will be a show."

Gajeel, Gray, and Happy had wide eyes when they overheard the woman say _virgin sacrifice_. Gray was absolutely pissed. He used his ice magic to freeze the wheels of the cart. The woman pulling the cart yelled, "What the heck is wrong with this cart? Either the wheels are stuck or this Titania should be known as Gigantia, Queen of the Fatties." She looked down at the ice on the wheels. She muttered, "Ice? Where the heck did that come from?" She looked up to see Gray attack, then everything went dark. The other women were silently knocked out, while Sal walked ahead.

She was making idle chatter at the other women. When no answer came, she turned around. The ladies were all strewn on the ground unconscious. Before she could yell, Kai grabbed her mouth. "Hello, there. We don't want to hurt you, but you need to tell us who is in charge here." He let go of her mouth, and she hissed "Quincy will kill you all. You may not go through the competition anymore, but you will die for Draco!" She saw Gajeel and smirked. She mocked, "I see we have a little visitor from 3 years ago. I knew you'd be back to fulfill your duty, iron slayer." Gajeel put his face up to hers, seething, "Believe me, lady. The only reason I'm here is ta stop yer bullshit ceremony. Yer little operation has gone on too long." She looked at him with determined eyes. She said, "I have one word to respond to that: GUARDS!" Gajeel knocked her out.

Footsteps were heard down the hall. Gray said, "Shit! We have company." Gajeel paused, ordering, "Wait a minute." He sniffed the air. He reassured them, "Actually, we're fine." Happy looked like he was about to panic, whimpering, "We need to get out of here! We'll be killed!" Gajeel smirked, answering, "Trust me. We'll be livin' another day." Happy shook fearfully, until he saw familiar pink hair. Happy yelled, "NATSU!" He flew into Natsu's arms.

Natsu, Lucy, Sting, Yukino, and Lector turned the corner. Lucy studied the guys from the cages. She tentatively asked, "Are they okay? They look really sick." Gajeel said, "They're going to be okay. They just went through a very painful transformation into a dragon slayer." She asked, "Like Laxus or Cobra?" Gray nodded. She introduced herself to the group, "My name is Lucy, from Fairy Tail. We're here to get you out of here."

Yukino and Lucy picked up Erza off the ground. "Her armor is so heavy!" exclaimed Yukino. Lucy looked over with no surprise, adding, "I know, but you'll get used to it. I've been on many missions with her. Sometimes I've had to lift her by myself. It's not fun."

One of the villagers, Ben, nudged his friend, George. He whispered, "Those two new chicks are pretty hot, huh?" George muttered, "I wouldn't mind having some of that." Natsu and Sting giving them an intense look and raged, "MINE!". George stammered, "Uh, sorry. We didn't know they had boyfriends." Natsu's eyes had fire in them, as he angrily whispered, "You touch either woman, you will die! Those women are our mates. You understand, right?" George and Ben nodded. Lucy looked behind them. She asked, "Are those guys doing okay, Natsu? We need them to hurry a little." Natsu grinned at her as he put his arm around Ben's shoulders. He cheerfully said, "No problem, Luce. We were just talking about strategy. Right, buddy?" Ben nervously nodded. Lucy tersely said, "That's nice and all, Natsu, but we need to hurry." Natsu said, "No problem, babe."

Gray looked at Natsu with a confused expression. He whispered to Gajeel, "Does Natsu seem to be overly possessive of Lucy? I can tell you he cares about his friends, but that seemed excessive." Gajeel peered in the dim light to observe Lucy's neck. Erza arm was moved and Lucy's hair went to the side. Gajeel put his hand on his face. He muttered, "You've gotta be kiddin' me! When did he have time ta do that?" Gray looked confused. He uttered, "I feel like I'm missing something." Gajeel exhaled, answering, "Let's just say Natsu and Lucy are together now." Gray deadpanned, "As guild partners?" Gajeel insisted, "Romantically." Gray skeptically said, "Yeah. I'll believe it when I see it. Flame Brain has never ever been interested in a woman, ever. Friends, yes. Girlfriend, no." Gajeel pulled Gray closer, pointing out, "Look at Bunny Girl up there. See that red dragon on her neck? That's a dragon's mark. Means she's his forever." Gray huffed, "Yeah, whatever. That insinuates that white dragon on Yukino means she's Sting's. Admit it; they're just wearing some kind of temporary tattoos." Gajeel had wide eyes, as he looked at Yukino. He mumbled, "Holy shit! Those guys have been really productive. Those girls did not have those marks when we left. I'm positive of that. I didn't even notice Sabertooth chick's mark!" He looked over to see Sting and Natsu give him their most conceited smiles. Gray looked skeptical as he said, "I'll believe it when I see it. For now, I know Fire Breath's romance is with a sandwich."

As soon as they got the men out of the caves, Gray, Gajeel, Sting, and Natsu announced they were going to make hell for the dragon worshipers. Natsu kissed Lucy and said, "Go get these guys to Peace Town." She hugged him back. She ordered, "Go give them a taste of Fairy Tail's destruction." Then they started to make out. Gray's mouth dropped to the ground in disbelief. He sputtered, "What the hell?" Gajeel just said, "I told ya so."

Right before they got to the entrance, Rufus and Orga showed up. Gajeel smirked, "Nice of ya to finally show up. Want ta join us in giving these assholes hell?" Rufus was absolutely resolved to make the worshipers lives' miserable. He snarled, "Those ruffians drugged me. I'm ready to ensure they go through absolute despair." Orga nodded. He said, "Let's go! I'm sure I wouldn't mind a little revenge for hurting our friends." He looked at Natsu and Sting. "I'm glad you guys are okay." Sting grabbed Yukino and announced, "Yukino here saved us. She broke us out of our cages and trapped the guards in a huge bubble of water. She's a badass!" Orga looked surprised, asking, "You and the exceeds saved them?" After she nodded, Orga hugged her so tight and yelled, "Thank you!" Sting jealously pulled them apart and then proceeded to kiss Yukino very publicly. She had a bright blush on her face as they separated. Sting proudly said, "Who wouldn't be proud of their wonderful mate?" Orga looked confused, "Mate?" Gray just looked uncomfortable, adding, "Yeah, I'm just as confused as you are, but no time!" They ran in to the cave entrance.

Lucy and Yukino picked up Erza. "Let's go to Peace Village as soon as possible!" They both went back to town as fast as their legs could carry them. Happy and Lector lifted any of the villagers that was too weak to travel.


	16. Chapter 16: Formidable Foes

The men ran back into the cages. Gray said, "Where do we go from here?" Natsu sniffed the air. He said, "I smell a whole bunch of those bastards up there. Let's go." They ran into a new room, filled with people. Orga immediately electrocuted a good majority of the robed men. Rufus looked at the others and said, "Leave the rest to me. I feel I owe them some special revenge for what they did to me." Orga and Rufus stayed in the large room, while the rest moved on.

As the rest left, more men came from hidden corridors. Rufus observed their positions and said, "Memory Make: A Night of Falling Stars." He put his fingers on his temple to make a memory of their pinpointed positions. All of a sudden, the room looked like a night sky. Every one of the guards glowed yellow. Suddenly lightning emitted from Rufus. The guards stood transfixed as it looked like night stars spread from Rufus. The lightning targeted every single person, with the exception of Orga. The lightning incapacitated every single one of them.

Men's moans and yells were heard as the rest ran down the corridor. They needed to find the leader and the rest of the crowd as fast as possible. The next room they came upon was filled with a small group of red robed mages. One of them pulled down their hood and commanded plants. Vines moved everywhere, going at full force towards the group. The plants threw needles at them. Natsu immediately destroyed many of them with his fire. Unfortunately, one of them flung into Sting's neck. The needles were dosed with a small amount of scopolamine, enough to cause him to hallucinate and get sick. The effects were alarmingly quick: his pupils constricted, his mouth was dry. Sting was dazed, and dizzy. Then he passed out. Sting was immediately imprisoned in the vines and taken to another room. Gajeel groaned. "What the? They just got Sting! Keep away from those plants, especially the vines and stinging needles. I'm guessin' the needles are poisonous."

Natsu lit his body on fire, causing all the vines to wilt or go on fire. Natsu also threw fireballs at the plants with the stinging needles. Another man with a red robe pulled off his hood. He looked directly in Natsu's eyes, and Natsu stood transfixed. Vines were wrapping around his arms. Gajeel saw the man's ability to hypnotize Natsu and punched him in the face. Once the man's eyes weren't looking at Natsu, Natsu shook his head. He looked at Gajeel, concerned. Gajeel yelled, "Don't look that second guy in the eye! He can hypnotize you." Natsu went back to battling the plant mage.

Gray was pushed onto a wall with a boulder. He yelled, "Well, this last guy has the power to push rocks around. Watch your back!" Natsu knocked out the plant mage. He smiled in triumph, only to have a bunch of rocks soaring toward him. He ducked at the last second. "What the hell?" he bellowed. Gray and Natsu tried to deal with the earth mage, while Gajeel battled the hypnotizing mage.

Gajeel ripped a part of his shirt and tied it around his eyes. He was going to rely on all sensations, except sight. The hypnotist punched at Gajeel's face; the light air that came from the punch alerted Gajeel of the impending punch. He narrowly avoided it. He changed his fist into a iron fist. "Screw this!" he heard the hypnotist say. Gajeel caught the sensation something huge was approaching him. He barely managed to turn his body into an iron body before a huge boulder hit him. Gajeel growled out, "What the hell, Salamander? You and Gray are supposed to deal with this guy!" He then heard the sounds of Gray moaning on the ground. Gajeel picked up the cloth to briefly look at Gray on the ground, with an enormous boulder on top of him. 'Shit!' he thought. He ran over and pulled the boulder off of Gray.

Gray gradually got up, and stood next to Gajeel. They both went to fighting stance. They saw nobody in front of them. Gajeel said, "Did they catch Salamander and Sting?" Gray huffed, "Looks like we've got to rescue those idiots again!" Gajeel sniffed the air. He approached what looked like a normal rock surface. He pointed at it. Gray said, "They didn't disappear into thin air. I can feel a feel air coming from a different section. See that? There's a hidden door entrance somewhere." Gajeel was feeling around the rock surface until he felt a little button. He pressed the button, and a secret door opened. Gajeel looked at Gray, "They're down here. Let's go!"


	17. Chapter 17: Regroup

Lucy, Yukino, Erza, and the rest of the new slayers walked into the pub. Lucy called out, "Hello! We need help!" Ethan walked downstairs. He immediately recognized a few of the new faces: "Ben? Jace? What are you doing here?" Lucy answered for them: "These guys got tricked into being dragon slayers with a hasty dragon lacrima transformation. I've gathered the guys are in absolute agony." Ethan was horrified. He asked, "You guys were going to be part of their ritual? I told you something was up with them!" Ben looked ashamed, saying, "We thought it was going to be different. We honestly thought it would be painless. Our souls were supposed to be chosen for Draco in a gentle soul transcendence ritual." Lucy asked Ethan, "You know these guys?" Ethan nodded, affirming, "They're from my home town. I started to doubt the ritual when my sister disappeared. I also studied the crops destroyed by the so-called dragon. I doubt a wild animal like a dragon could control their fire to stop at the wealthiest person's land. It was way too suspicious!" He noticed Erza unconscious in their arms. "I have some rooms upstairs. I'll assist in bringing your friend in armor onto one of them." Yukino said, "Thank you, Ethan."

Rogue and Kagura walked downstairs. Rogue smiled at the the new men in front of him. He asked, "Do any of you have any idea how to do any dragon slaying magic?" Jace said, "I only know one spell from that iron slayer guy." Rogue said, "What are your lacrimas supposed to do?" Jace said, "Fire magic." Ben answered, "Poison magic." George muttered, "Light magic." Kai said, "Shadow magic." Jack answered, "Wind magic." Daisuke said, "Water magic." Sousuke responded, "Earth magic." Rogue thought for a minute. He announced, "I'll try giving you guys a basic spell repertoire in case we need your help. We likely need to go back there."

Kai started to feel anxious, muttering, "I don't know if I can go back there. I know what they made me do." Rogue looked at him, perplexed. "What did they make you do?" Kai breathed hard. "They made me drink two potions. The first one hurt a little, since it caused my eyes to change and my fangs to grow. I think it's supposed to enhance the dragon traits. The second one made me like a wild animal. I had no conscious thought about what I was doing. It felt like I could watch what I did from a distance, but I couldn't control anything. I fought Daika to the death. Part of this blood on my outfit was mine, but the majority of it is his. I broke bones, I spilled his blood, I ripped his arms off, I took his heart from his chest, and I...chewed on his heart." He wept softly. He begged, "I can't go back there. Please. I keep seeing his terrified expression as he died. He was my best friend! I've never felt so violated. I had no control of myself." Rogue looked at this broken man in front of him with compassion. He answered, "Fine. It seems cruel to make you go back there. But I still want you to learn a little with me. I can teach you more than the others, because you have my magic type. Please, come outside to learn." The men walked outside to learn some basic magic from Rogue.

Lucy and Yukino talked with Kagura. "How did the calls to everyone go?" Yukino asked. Kagura said, "Well, my guild now want to get involved. I found out they had already gotten the pub owner who was bribed to drug me. I guess he's been in a world of pain. They found my sword. I'm a little more comfortable with that news. Our guilds notified the Magic Counsel to take this seriously. I guess my guild is going into the caves near our town to bust up their local operation. Considering three guilds are involved, the Magic Counsel had to take this group seriously. The Magic Counsel will be sending out their Rune Knights tonight. They should arrive in a few hours. Fairy Tail and Sabertooth are sending out a few more teams to assist." Lucy sighed, "So you're saying it's going to be a while before we get any reinforcements?" Kagura spoke plainly, "That would be correct. It is regrettable, but that is the way it is." Lucy asked, "How do you think Erza's doing? We put her in a bed upstairs, but I don't know how long that powder lasts."

Loke suddenly popped up in front of Lucy and Yukino. He said, "Lucy! I'm so sorry it took me so much time. It took a little bit of convincing my friend Draco. He is offering you and Yukino these two keys. We need you both to do this in front of all of their followers. He plans to tell them what his wishes are." Lucy hugged Loke and said, "THANK YOU! I am curious. Why are there two keys? I thought it was only supposed to be one key." Loke said, "His spirit is quite a drain on a celestial mage's energy. You could die providing the magic to bring him forth." He looked seriously at Yukino, pleading, "Can you do this together with Lucy? I know I'm asking a lot of you two." Lucy and Yukino both said, "We can do it!"

Lucy called out to Happy, and Yukino beckoned Lector. After hearing they were going back to the caves, the exceeds were reluctant. Yukino convinced Lector, "If you get there with me, we'll join Sting. That way, you can help him stop those bad people." Lector said, "Well, if I do say so myself, Sting is the best at giving butt whoopings. But, I can be convinced to help him." Yukino chuckled and said, "Okay. Thanks for helping me." At the same time, Lucy hugged Happy and comforted him. She reminded, "Remember, Natsu is in there, causing destruction of the worst kind." Happy giggled. He mused, "Yeah, I guess you're right. It IS Natsu. We'll fly you there, so you get there faster." She smiled and said, "Thank you, Happy!"

Happy and Lector picked up Lucy and Yukino and soared at max speed as they approached the caves. They ran back into the entrance with the waterfall. They ran past many of the unconscious guards and into the room where Rufus and Orga were. They greeted them. Rufus and Orga had just finished dealing with all the men in the room. Yukino looked at some of the charred skin on some of the men. She scolded, "Orga, Rufus! Don't you think you overdid it a bit?" Rufus just showed his disgust. He admonished, "Those goons deserved worse." Lucy said, "We need to run to where most of the followers would be. We need to reeducate them on Draco's true desires." Orga joked, "Oh you mean you'll call up a dragon?" He snorted. Lucy and Yukino shouted in unison, "YES!" Both men had shocked expressions. Orga pondered, "Wait, there's a dragon celestial spirit?" Lucy explained, "Yes. The constellation Draco is the one they keep mentioning here. The cult is called Draco's Sons. We've been asked to call him up in front of these people, because we suspect it will be hard to convince them to stop otherwise." Yukino addded, "We need to catch up with the rest of the guys so we can get this finished." Rufus said, "Well, let's run into that corridor there. Gray, Gajeel, Natsu, and Sting all went that way."

They ran down to the empty room. Lucy asked, "Where did they go?" Yukino ran to the end of the room. She declared, "There doesn't appear to be a way to get out of this room, other than the way we came in." Rufus looked around, feeling on the walls. He commanded, "Feel the walls for a button or a lever or something. There has to be a hidden pathway." They felt along the walls, until Orga felt a button. He pressed it and backed away. A part of the wall pulled to the side. "Orga, you found it!" Yukino exclaimed. They ran through the hidden entrance down a hall.

They ran until they found a fork in the path. Yukino directed in hushed tones, "Let's split up. Lucy and I will go down the left path with the exceeds. You two go down the other path." Lucy whispered to Rufus, "Meet us back in 20 minutes." He nodded.

Rufus and Orga ran down their path until they saw a hidden entrance. They found a special room with a magical projector. Rufus turned on the projector. Rufus and Orga watched a projection of a dragon walking around. Another projection showed a dragon shooting fire. The next portrayed a dragon destroying crops. Rufus speculated, "I think I know why villagers so easily believe these people. These projections look pretty realistic, at least from a distance. If you look too close, you can tell they're stop motion models. All it would take is this projection and someone affecting their memories or hypnotizing them to make it real, and they'll believe it. It probably only takes a small group to influence the entire village. I'm sure they destroyed crops or homes on purpose to convince the villagers to go along with them. This cult's leaders truly are manipulative." Orga warned, "I think we've got company. I hear footsteps." They hid. The footsteps got louder. Orga got into fighting stance. They heard someone come around the corner. Rufus was about to make a spell, but he paused. They came face to face with Gray and Gajeel.

Rufus smiled at his comrades. Organ and Rufus then looked behind them. Orga inquired, "Where's Sting and Natsu?" Gray and Gajeel gave annoyed looks to one another. Gray responded, "They managed to kidnap those two again. It's made worse, because they have someone who can hypnotize you just by looking into your eyes." Rufus asked, "Have you found them?" Gajeel shook his head, saying, "No. We've been down that pathway. They're not there. We're about to go to the other path at the fork." Orga mentioned, "Lucy, Yukino, Happy, and Lector went that way." Gray said, "I have a bad feeling they may be running into danger."


	18. Chapter 18: Battle at Dragon's Den

Natsu and Sting woke up in cages. Sting growled, "Again?! This sucks." Natsu looked annoyed and grumbled, "I agree." He tried to melt the bars with his fire magic. He saw the border around his cage collect his magic. "Shit! It's the same magic depleting barrier as before!" Sting got disappointed, but he determined, "We have to get out of here." Suddenly, Natsu smiled, saying, "Wait a minute." He sniffed the air. Sting also sniffed. They looked at each other and smiled.

Lucy, Happy, Yukino, and Lector ran into the room. Natsu gleefully shouted, "Luce!" Lucy ran up to his cage. She teased, "So what's this about all the hell you were going to raise?" Natsu rolled his eyes, whining, "Come on, Luce!" She giggled. She looked over at Yukino picking the locks on Sting's cage with her hair pins. Lucy asked, "Hey, Yuki, can you help with this cage after you're done with Sting's cage?" She nodded as she went back to the lock. Natsu asked, "Can't you get Taurus or another spirit to open my cage?" Lucy said, "Yukino and I have to conserve our magic. Let's just say you'll be all fired up when you see what we do." Natsu said, "I'm just glad you came back for us." Lucy teased Natsu, "See? I'm taking such good care of you." Natsu blushed, adding, "Yeah. You are the best girlfriend a man could ask for." Happy flew by, teasing, "You liiiiike her." Natsu proudly said, "You're right, little buddy. I DO like her." Happy floated above and stopped his snickering. He looked at both of them, completely confused. He asked, "Natsu, when did that happen? Are you saying you're dating each other?" Natsu put his hand through the bars onto Lucy's hand. He answered, "Actually, Luce and I are mates, which is more serious." Happy asked, "Is she going to live with us soon?" Lucy said, "Uh, Natsu and I haven't discussed that yet. But I'm sure that will be a more serious conversation in a little bit. First, we need to get out of here and stop these people."

Yukino exclaimed, "I got it!" Sting's door unlocked. She then went over to Natsu's cage and started on that lock. Sting went over to Lector. "We're going to go take watch." Lucy said, "I'm going to look for the other guys at the entrance. I hope we can get out of here."

Sting whispered, "Heads up! We have company. Yukino, Lucy, hide! I'm going back to my cage, so they won't get suspicious." He walked back into his cage and closed the unlocked door. Before Lucy and Yukino hid, Lucy went over to Natsu. She whispered, "Natsu. Do not drink the second potion. Even if you have to drink the first potion, do not drink the second potion. Promise me." He kissed her through the bars. "I promise, Luce." Yukino looked at Sting. "Promise me too, Sting." He nodded. Lucy, Yukino, and the exceeds went back to the hallway where they got in and hid.

Two guards came through the other entrance with two cups. The hypnotizing mage also accompanied them. A guard said, "Good news! We're going to have you figure out which one of you is the alpha." Natsu bragged, "I'm pretty sure I already am." Sting gave him a dirty look, challenging, "Are you sure of that? Maybe we should fight one another to figure that out." The guard smiled. He announced, "Great! You'll get your wish very soon. You'll be battling each other to figure out who is the alpha."

The two guards brought the drinks of water. Both Sting and Natsu looked skeptical. Sting said, "We're not drinking anything. We don't need to drink any potion or poison or whatever. We can battle each other without it." The hypnotizing mage looked at Sting in the eyes. He handed the first potion to Sting, and he drank it. Natsu was agitated. "Sting, fight whatever he's doing!" The hypnotizing mage looked directly at Natsu before he could look away. He was also forced to drink the potion.

The potion instantly took effect. Both men were moaning in pain, their instincts taking over. Their eyes went reptilian and their fangs got longer. The guards said, "Wow! The transformation occurred much faster in these two. Let's just give them the other potion." One guard unlocked Natsu's cage and walked in to get the cup to Natsu. Suddenly, a pair of wings sprouted from his back. "What the hell?" the guard yelled, as he dropped the cup to the floor. Natsu growled loud as horns grew on the top of his head. A tail was coming from the back. Sting's howls were heard as the same transformation was happening to him.

The hypnotist looked at the other guard. He ordered, "Get that potion to the other one!" The guard nodded and rushed over to Sting's cage. Sting pushed the unlocked door open and smacked the cup out of the guard's hands. The guard stared in fear as Sting's pupils became slits. The guard inched back to the hypnotist. The hypnotist peered in Sting's eyes. He demanded, "You'll go back into your cage." Sting stopped walking and turned toward his cage.

From where Lucy and Yukino were watching, they could see the hypnotist had Sting under his control. Lucy whispered, "I know I should be saving energy, but I need to do this." Lucy called Aries. "Aries, stop those three men!" Aries shyly said, "Okay, mistress." She produced a whole bunch of wool to incapacitate the men. Lucy directed, "Make sure you give the hypnotist guy fluff specifically on his eyes!" Aries responded shyly, "Okay." Wool covered his eyes. They ran to get Natsu and Sting to safety.

Sting looked at Yukino with those reptilian eyes. She seemed unsure at first, but she hugged him. She asked, "Sting, are you okay in there?" Sting rubbed his head on Yukino's cheek. Then, he kissed her. She mumbled, "Yup, that's my Sting. I love you, too." She turned around to see Lucy and Natsu also kissing passionately. She whispered, "Lucy, you ready to get out of here?" She nodded and ordered, "Natsu, we have to go out that door." He silently nodded.

They ran through the hallways until they got to the fork. They bumped into Gajeel, Gray, Rufus, and Orga. To say the least, the other men were shocked at Natsu's and Sting's appearance. Rufus commanded, "Lucy, Yukino, just move quietly toward us." Lucy rolled her eyes, and revealed, "It's fine, Rufus. Neither of our guys took the second potion. They kept their promise to us." Gajeel went forward to the other two. He asked, "Are ya really in there, Salamander?" Natsu punched him. Gajeel held his jaw. He mused, "Yup, it's him."

Gray wondered, "Okay. Should we get out of here?" Rufus said, "I believe the girls have a responsibility. There is a projector room if they would like to accomplish their duty. We can record it." They looked at their boyfriends. Yukino instructed, "Come on, Sting." Lucy pecked Natsu's lips, steering him away: "Let's go, Natsu." He grinned, showing off his elongated fangs. Both men followed their mates and the rest of the men. Their exceeds flew behind them.

They got back into the projector room. Lucy looked at the size of the room, deducing, "Yukino, I don't know if we can be in this room when we call out Draco. It's too small." She nodded. Everyone heard a lot of footprints approaching. Rufus grabbed the projector. He ordered, "Let's get out of here. We need to go back to the entrance." They got out of the room and went back to the fork. They saw people struggling against Aries' fluff. They ran to the hidden door. Rufus worried, "We're trapped unless we find the button!"

Natsu immediately pushed a button. Apparently, his dragon eyes were much stronger than ever in the dark. The door opened, and they ran back to the entrance. As soon as they got out of the cave, they heard a lot of people running after them.

Lucy looked at Yukino. She whispered, "When those guards get outside, we need to call Draco." Yukino looked at the other men. She said, "This will take a lot of Lucy's and my power to call this spirit. Please protect us." All of the men nodded. Happy and Lector flew above Natsu and Sting. The footsteps got louder. They heard, "After them! We need to have the dragon slayers finish the ritual!"

* * *

A huge group of guards and followers ran outside toward Natsu and Sting. Orga, Gajeel, Rufus and Gray immediately stepped in front of them. Gray said, "You guys ready to give them hell?" Gajeel said, "Gihi. Always." Orga said, "Damn right! These people have been a huge pain in our asses." Rufus said, "I'm ready to give them a taste of their own medicine." They prepared for battle.

Gray ordered, "Aim for the mages first. They're powerful, and we need them out of the way." Rufus said, "Let me at the hypnotist. I have a plan." Gajeel responded, "He's all yours. I want the boulder mage. He and I have a score to settle. Gihi!" Orga pulled out his god lightning cannon: "I'll deal with the crowd." Gray replied, "I guess that leaves me with the plant mage."

The crowd of mages and guards ran after them. The hypnotist saw Rufus and looked directly in his eyes. Rufus seemed to go blank. The hypnotist said, "Now, I want you to use your magic to trap our dragon slayer friends." Rufus repeated, "Our dragon slayer friends?" The hypnotist responded, "You need to trap your friends in the air." Rufus looked up at Natsu and Sting flying in the air. Rufus simply said, "Memorize." The hypnotist looked surprised. "What did you say?" Rufus said, "Nice try. But I can memorize your magic just by observing it. As soon as I looked away, you didn't have power over me." The hypnotist said, "But it worked before!" Rufus simply said, "You didn't drug me this time. Ice Make Spear!" Rufus held an icy spear in his hands. Rufus quipped, "I'm going to keep you a little distance from me. I think you've done quite enough with your powers." He knocked the hypnotist on his back. Rufus straddled him and ripped a piece of his cloak off and covered the hypnotist's eyes. The hypnotist yelled, "What are you doing?!" Rufus responded, "Keeping you from using your powers. As long as nobody can look in your eyes, you can't control them." Rufus observed Gray fighting the plant mage. "Memorize." He then called forth vines to wrap around the hypnotist. The hypnotist yelled, "You won't get away with this!" Rufus manipulated a vine to shoot a projectile needle at the hypnotist's neck. It knocked him out. Rufus said, "I already have. That's for hurting my friends."

Sting was in the air, observing a crowd of men chasing after Yukino and Lucy. He put his open palms together with his fingers touching each other. The he separated the palms and kept the fingers together. A huge ball of white light formed in the circle in his hands. He then pulled his arms apart, and the enormous ball of white light flew at the men. The subsequent light ball incapacitated the men and threw Lucy and Yukino forward. Lucy rubbed her arms and knees. She asked, "What was that?" Yukino looked back at Sting and smiled. She said, "Thank you, Sting, for the Holy Ray." Sting grinned at her while his wings flapped. He then went back to battle to assist Orga, Natsu, Happy, and Lector.

Gray was giving the plant mage a formidable fight. The vines shot towards Gray at record speed, but Gray just froze them. Gray spat, "Is that all you've got?" The plant mage retorted, "I'm just getting started." He called forth stinging plants. One of the plants shot the drugged needles. Gray remembered what they did to Sting earlier. Gray yelled, "Ice Make Shield." An enormous ice shield went up just in time, as the needles embedded themselves in the ice. The plant mage was furious. He yelled, "I'm not done yet! Poison Plant Attack!" An enormous red flower showed up and threw forth its poisonous pollen at Gray. Gray got some pollen on his skin: "Ahhhh! That burns!" Rufus joined Gray. He said, "It appears you need some assistance! Memorize." The plant sent forth more poison pollen. Rufus side stepped it. Rufus said, "Thorn Curse Vine Grab." A whole bunch of thorny vines appeared from the ground and grabbed the plant mage. He howled in pain as all the thorns bit into his skin, and the vines pulled his arms and legs apart. The poison flower disappeared. Gray ran up to him and knocked the plant mage out. Gray said, "Thanks. I guess I don't have a green thumb after all." Rufus rolled his eyes. He noticed Gray's red skin and ordered, "Show me your burn. I need to treat it immediately. You're lucky I memorized a number of antivenin magical spells." He put his arms above Gray. Gray's arm gradually got better. Gray said, "Thanks!"

Gajeel was going full force towards the boulder slinging earth mage. The iron dragon slayer yelled, "Iron Dragon Roar!" The earth mage put up a rock shield, which protected him from the explosions. The two mages ran toward each other. The dragon slayer was breaking rocks left and right with his iron fists. The earth mage yelled, "Try that with a diamond shield!" The iron slayer was getting angrier. Gajeel chomped into the diamond. "Gihi! Thanks fer the carbon, asshole! Steel Dragon's Sword!" His iron arm turned into a spiked steel sword. The jagged edges rotated around his arm. He extended his arm toward the earth mage. Gajeel managed to slice into the man's arm before he could jump away. The man screamed in agony. In desperation, the earth mage made a thick lead shield around himself. The earth mage manipulated the ground to escape into an underground cave. Gajeel caught on to what the man was doing. Gajeel yelled, "Karma Dragon: Iron Spiral!" Gajeel's legs became a drill and he went down after the earth mage. Before the earth mage could go further into the underground cave, Gajeel threw his Iron Slayer Kunais at the Earth Mage. The earth mage was stunned when his clothes were stuck to a cave wall. Gajeel used his foot blades to walk up the cave wall. The earth mage tried to call forth a rock column, but Gajeel used his Iron Dragon's Roar to destroy the column into little rocks and dust. Before the earth mage could call anything more, Gajeel threw forward Iron ropes and wrapped them around a large stalactite hanging from the cave's ceiling to help him climb up. Once he got onto the stalacitite, he pushed his legs onto it using it as leverage until he turned his fist into Iron Dragon's Club. The earth mage was flinging all sorts of boulders toward Gajeel. Gajeel was jumping from one rock to another as he rushed toward the earth mage. He knocked the earth mage unconscious. He mused, "Gihi. Time to sleep!" He grabbed the earth mage off of the wall and put him over his shoulder. He used his Iron Dragon's Foot Blades and Iron Dragon's Pickaxe to easily climb outside of the cave. He grumbled at the earth mage, "Your ass is so freakin' heavy!"

During the fight, Sting and Natsu flew with their exceeds to use aerial attacks. Happy said, "Natsu, it's so fun flying with you!" Natsu snorted and snarled in his dragon language. He grinned at Happy. Happy said, "I'm going to assume that means you agree." Natsu observed a couple of men coming close to Yukino and Lucy. He attacked from above with a fire dragon's roar to make a fire barrier for Lucy and Yukino's safety. The guards jumped back in pain. Lucy smiled up at Natsu. She said to Yukino, "It looks like we both owe our dragon slayers."

Rufus used the hypnotism magic from before, but he used the projector to reach a larger group of people. A large number of people sat down, entranced. Gray commented, "I'm glad I don't have to fight you again, Rufus." Rufus grinned and replied, "I am too. I intend to make these people watch our ladies with full attention." Gray said, "We just need to get the rest of the group under your control and we'll be fine."


	19. Chapter 19: The Dragon Appears

Rogue and the rest of the villagers came out to help with the battle. Gajeel saw Rogue and said, "Ryos. About time you guys all came back!" Rogue retorted, "I couldn't let you guys have all of the fun." The brand new dragon slayers were helping, as well. Sousuke yelled, "Earth Dragon's Roar!" Explosions rumbled across the ground in front of the enemy. Jack commanded, "Sky Dragon's Roar!" A huge funnel cloud erupted from Jack's mouth, blowing a number of the guards back. Jack and Sousuke grinned at one another.

Behind a nearby mountain, Lucy and Yukino pulled out their keys for Draco. Yukino asked, "Are you ready?" Lucy answered, "No, but we need to do this. Let's get this over with." Yukino and Lucy recited in unison, "I am linked to the path to the world of the Celestial Spirits, now! O, spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate!" They crossed their keys together in the air. They both commanded, "I call the Gate of the Dragon, Draco!" Both of them felt a huge rush of power being sucked out of them. Yukino got so weakened, she fell to her knees. Sting immediately flew over to protect his mate. He helped her up. Natsu soared over to Lucy to stabilize her, as well.

An enormous dragon showed up in front of them. The dragon stretched his neck. He said to the ladies, "Hello, I have heard quite a bit about you two, Lucy Heartfilia and Yukino Agria. It is nice to finally meet you, although I'm sorry it's under unfortunate circumstances. Thank you for calling me. I needed to stretch my neck anyways. Being in that formation can put such a crick in your neck, especially when it's twisted and curled." Lucy and Yukino smiled. Lucy said, "Thank you for coming. I know it's rare to leave the Celestial Realm." Draco remarked, "I can't believe I have to destroy this cult again. What a pain!" Yukino replied, "We still appreciate you doing this. We're hoping you can stop the fighting without violence." Draco grinned at both Lucy and Yukino with his sharp teeth, and promised, "I'll try."

Draco walked from behind the mountains into full view of the battleground. He observed the battle still raging in front of him. Draco thunderously roared, "Enough!" Many people covered their ears from the ear drum-shattering sound of his voice. Everyone stopped and stared. In front of the crowd, an imposing dragon with a very long neck stood before them. The dragon worshipers were in awe. Even Sabertooth's and Fairy Tail's mages were stunned. The brand new dragon slayers stared up at Draco, dumbfounded. Gray whispered to Gajeel, "Did you know Lucy could call a dragon?" Gajeel answered, "I'm just as surprised as you are." Rufus commented, "I'm pretty impressed with Lucy and Yukino. It looks like they intend to fix this peacefully." Orga just stood with his mouth open. Rogue stared silently, wide-eyed. Happy and Lector floated down. Lector exclaimed, "That's a real dragon!" Happy said, "Wow! He looks different than the dragons that walked through the Eclipse Gate. His neck is really long!" The dragon observed Natsu assisting Lucy with staying on her feet and Sting carrying Yukino in his arms. He assured, "I promise not to make this last long." Lucy and Yukino weakly nodded. He turned back to the crowd.

He announced, "My name is Draco, the dragon. I understand there seems to be a religion called Draco's Sons." The crowd murmured things like "Draco is real!" and "He's here! Is it for the 10 year anniversary of the ritual?" and "Well, Quincy did promise this year the ritual would be special." Draco let the questions and comments die down. Draco demanded, "Who is the priest in charge of this organization?" The crowd stepped aside to allow Quincy through. Quincy's white robes floated on the ground, as he marched proudly up to the formidable beast. He thought, 'This is amazing! Ten years of sacrifices, and we meet the actual Draco.' The crowd of dragon worshipers went silent, but they were all smiling at their perceived achievement.

Quincy nervously stammered, "It is such an honor to meet you! I knew if we were faithful followers, we would receive this reward. We have done everything you've asked. I am so grateful to see that 10 years of our efforts have been successful!" Draco sneered at Quincy in disgust, "When did I ask for you to torture, kidnap, and murder in MY name?" Quincy balked. 'Why isn't he happy? There must be a mistake,' he uneasily thought. People in the crowd muttered to each other nervously.

Quincy responded, "Our ancestors dutifully wrote all of your laws and rituals down in the holy book. We've followed everything faithfully." Draco growled angrily, "Those people made up their own rituals and laws and then attributed them to me. They were desperate fools that assumed doing these ridiculous rituals would pacify the marauding dragons. Your ancestors killed far more people than my dragon brethren did. I can assure you I never asked for something so despicable. To those in the crowd assuming I'm here as a reward for your efforts, you're wrong. The only reason I'm here is because two quite powerful Celestial maidens called me forth, so I could admonish you." There was an audible gasp from the dragon worshipers. The crowd grew restless. Quincy adamantly repeated, "But, we are just doing the same thing our ancestors did!"

Loke suddenly showed up, using his own magic. He shouted, "You're right! Your ancestors did the same thing. The were doing these horrific rituals hoping it would appease the dragons. The dragons were indifferent to your ancestors' beliefs. However, we Celestial Spirits were quite offended you claimed Draco demanded this. I remember having to destroy your religion, because so many women and men died over the course of 100 years. I vaguely remember your ancestors sacrificing up to three people per year: two dragon slayers and a virgin girl. In the past, every one of those sacrifices was voluntary. You demanded far more sacrifices per year than the previous generations. You had to use trickery and kidnapping to accomplish your goals." Quincy defended, "We used more sacrifices as an extra incentive to stop the dragons from coming back." Loke said, "So killing more people was an extra incentive? They are people, not your sick entertainment! Draco, tell these people what you really want."

Draco decreed, "I demand you cease your operations immediately. If I hear of you doing this so-called ritual, I will come though the gate with my own magic and destroy you myself. You will also let all of your prisoners go. You are never to kill anyone in my name. I find all of your actions disgusting. You have sullied my name, offended the Celestial realm, and besmirched dragons in general."

Quincy's face turned red with rage. He thought, 'I've been a true believer. I've thrown away my morals for this religion! Now, the god we've worshiped for years is informing us all those sacrifices were for nothing?' He was in disbelief. He noticed Rufus holding the projector. He hissed, "I knew it! See that man with the mask there? He has a projector. The dragon isn't real! You're just watching a projection!" Draco blew fire on the cave walls, singeing Quincy's coat and hair and burning the walls. The crowd screamed and panicked; they could feel the heat emanating off of the walls. Quincy yelped and backed away, as Draco marched toward him. Draco mocked, "Oh, I'm not real, huh?" Draco put his face intimidatingly in front of Quincy and taunted, "How about I give you a better taste of my fire? Then you will feel how real I am." Many of worshipers were screaming and panicking.

Draco growled, "Silence!" The crowd went quiet. Many of the worshipers got on their hands and knees to bow at Draco's feet. Draco picked Quincy by the back of his white cloak with the tips of his claws. Quincy shivered and cried out as Draco put Quincy right in front of his enormous sharp teeth. Draco demanded, "I want you to promise you'll never do this ritual ever again." Quincy sputtered, "I-I promise I won't do it again." Draco stared intensely at the crowd, commanding, "You all will promise not to do this, as well. Promise!" The people in the crowd nodded and said, "Yes! We promise! We're sorry!"

Draco looked back at Lucy and Yukino barely keeping conscious. He commented, "Hmm. It looks likes I'm absorbing a lot of magical energy from you ladies. I will not be much longer." He turned to the people, cowering in fear and bowing. "You will honor your promise. There are huge consequences for breaking a promise with a Celestial Spirit. Are you aware of that?" The people shook their heads no.

He mentioned, "All you need to do is ask a Celestial mage what the consequences are. I would not advise you to go against my will. Speaking of Celestial mages, those two maidens who called me forth are Lucy and Yukino. I heard from Leo the Lion, that you intended to sacrifice them. Lucy and Yukino are known throughout the Celestial Realm for their kindness to their spirits. Had you done that in my name, the Celestial King likely would have come to the Earth Realm himself to destroy you. Taking Lucy's and Yukino's lives would have been considered the ultimate sin. They have a special place in the Celestial Realm for their many good deeds involving Celestial spirits." Loke added, "One of those good deeds was Lucy convincing the Celestial King to save my life. These two are some of the most powerful Celestial maidens we've ever seen. And you planned to kill them for your despicable ritual." Draco glared down at the crowd of dragon worshipers. He continued, "You all should be gracious to those two maidens. If they both hadn't asked me to do this peacefully, I would have snuffed out all of your lives. " Many of the dragon worshipers looked astonished. A couple of them peed in fear.

"I will take my leave now," Draco said, as he bowed his head to Lucy and Yukino. He spoke softly, "Lucy, Yukino. I have heard you both are benevolent to your spirits. I am pleased I got to meet those who care so much about us in the Celestial Realm." Lucy and Yukino weakly hugged Draco's snout. Lucy said, "We're honored to meet you, too. I'm sorry we had to meet like this." Yukino nodded and responded, "I hope we can see you again another time, hopefully under more positive circumstances. It's not everyday that we can meet a dragon, especially one so friendly!" Draco smiled, showing off his sharp fangs. He saw Natsu and Sting holding Lucy and Yukino. He laughed heartily and mused, "It looks like you already have quite friendly relations with dragons. I will have to see you both at a different time. I look forward to it." He blew fire in the air, which led to a night sky full of stars. Everyone was astounded at the beautiful sight. Then a cloud of smoke surrounded Draco and he went back to the Celestial Realm. Lucy and Yukino immediately passed out in Natsu's and Sting's arms, respectively. Sting and Natsu used their wings and flew away somewhere with their mates.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hi, it's Lisian38. I hope you guys are all enjoying my story so far. It's almost done! I hope my Draco character is seen as terrifying and elegant at the same time. He's pretty much how I assume a Celestial Dragon would be. Please, give me constructive criticisms. I know I'm pretty inexperienced as a writer, so it's good to hear any feedback: good or bad. Thank you for supporting my story!


	20. Chapter 20: The Rune Knights Appear

The rune knights suddenly appeared. Gajeel angrily stalked toward the people in charge. He accused, "You guys didn't deal with these people for 3 years after I was kidnapped!" A person on the Counsel said, "To be frank, we thought it was a sensational story made up by a dark mage. We didn't think it was real." Gajeel snarled, "Why, you son of a bitch!" Gray grabbed Gajeel to keep him from killing the guy.

Gray defended, "We know the Magic Counsel disbanded Phantom Lord. They were still considered a legal guild three years ago, so your dark mage accusation is ridiculous!"

Rufus angrily stated, "So this whole situation could have been avoided, but you chose to ignore Gajeel's report from 3 years ago? Since that time, Rogue, Natsu, and our guild head Sting were all kidnapped. This cult kidnapped virginal girls so they would be tortured and murdered. In that time, they had enough influence to manipulate people in nearby villages to willingly give up to 8 young men for sacrifice a year!"

Gajeel hissed out, "Those poor bastards were painfully converted into dragon slayers, drugged to be wild, and thrown in death matches. Then they'd throw some poor virgin girl in there with the surviving wild men. I told you they raped a girl and ravaged her to death in my report. That wasn't serious enough for ya? Some of the drugs they put on them were so horrible, they were cannibalizin' each other!"

The Magic Counsel representative went pale and sweat poured down his brow. He reluctantly asked, "How long have these people been operating?" Orga said, "We've had a local young man named Ethan helping us. He told us they've been doing this ritual for 10 years."

Rogue explained, "They wanted to do something extreme for their 10 year anniversary. They targeted Lucy and Erza of Fairy Tail, Yukino of Sabertooth, and Kagura of Mermaid Heel, because this cult wanted them as virgin sacrifices. They were featured in a Sorcerer Magazine spread, which had an article where they had positive messages about going against peer pressure. The ladies in question talked in depth about being virgins."

Gray added, "We think they targeted Rogue and Sting, because they were the twin dragon slayers. I guess capturing Natsu was sheer luck. The cult fully intended to kill them all."

The Magic Counsel representative looked confused. He asked, "On our way here, we just saw some flying monsters go off with 2 girls. Were those flying monsters Natsu of Fairy Tail, and Sting of Sabertooth?" Gray nodded, reporting, "We know they were given some sort of potion that changed their traits to that of dragons. I don't know what drug they were given. You're going to have to ask the cult leader what was in it."

The representative inquired, "Drugs? Did they just do that to the dragon slayers?" Rufus stepped forward, "I was drugged by them, as well. I think it was related to scopolamine. They have a plant mage who can manipulate his plants to produce poisons. They also have a hypnotist who can alter your memories. I acted like a brainwashed fool!" Rogue butted in, "We overheard a guard tell the leader in the white cloak that they bribed a person to drug Kagura's food in her hometown. We know they drugged Erza and Lucy as well. There were multiple types of potions used. The one for capturing us felt like you were going to choke to death. Other drugs appeared to knock people out."

The representative nervously announced, "As a representative of the Magic Counsel, we will apologize for this oversight." Gajeel roared, "Oversight?! Can you apologize to a single person that's died over the past 10 years? No! Have you apologized to all the parents and family members who have lost loved ones, 'cause you couldn't be bothered to look into this?" The man looked ashamed. "We will do the best we can to make amends. I am sorry we didn't take this seriously. How did you get the people to stop their ritual?"

Loke suddenly appeared in a puff of colorful smoke in front of the representative. He greeted, "Hello, I'm Loke of Fairy Tail, also known as the Celestial Spirit Leo the Lion. I had talked with Draco, the spirit these people worship. These people were not doing anything Draco desired, so he needed to intervene. I had my master, Lucy of Fairy Tail, and Sabertooth's Celestial Mage, Yukino, call Draco into the Earth realm in front of this huge crowd. He put a stop to their fighting and made them promise to never do their ritual again."

The representative was bewildered to be speaking with a Celestial Spirit. He spoke, "I see. And what proof do I have of that?" Rufus walked forward with the projector. He handed the projector to him and answered, "I happened to record the exchange, if you would like to see." The representative nodded, and a huge projection of Draco showed up. The Magic Counsel representative was almost scared.

He stammered, "Lucy and Yukino called him up?" Loke smiled proudly and answered, "Yes, they did. I admit calling him forth is a huge drain on their magic, so they have Magic Depletion Disease right now. We thought it would be good to have Natsu and Sting escort the two ladies home, so they could rest. They can talk to you after they've recovered."

* * *

As soon as the representative went back to questioning others, Loke walked away. Gray yelled, "Hey, wait up!" Loke asked, "What's up?" Gray inquired, "Where are Lucy and Yukino in reality? We saw Natsu and Sting just pick them up and fly away from here."

Loke thought for a moment and grimaced. He admitted, "Uh, well, I can't say about Yukino, but Natsu flew Lucy back to her apartment in Magnolia. I could go see, but I don't think it would be appreciated if I bothered them for the moment."

Gray's eyebrow quirked up and asked,"And that would be because she's sleeping?" Loke replied, "Yeah, let's go with that answer."

Gray's eyes went large. He whispered, "Flame Brain and Lucy are having sex? I saw him kissing her, so I guess they're dating. It just seems weird. I got the impression they're either the best at hiding their relationship from everyone, or they just started dating and jumped into a sexual relationship. Frankly, I can't see Lucy wanting to do the second option."

Loke exhaled, "I can understand why they did it. Natsu and Sting convinced Lucy and Yukino, respectively, to mate with them. Those two guys were so scared they would do something terrible under the influence of those potions. Dragon slayer mating magic makes it so those guys cannot ever hurt their mate. I'm amazed they managed to convince the girls to do that in a dank cave."

Gray mentioned, "There was a point where we were organizing our plans for a long time after getting Kagura. I know Sting went to talk to Yukino about something. But that doesn't seem right. We were all still in there." Gray's eyes brightened in recognition. He continued, "Come to think of it, Natsu and Lucy disappeared for 20 minutes too. Eww! We were in the freaking room!"

Loki had an annoyed expression. Loke huffed, "At least you don't feel your master climaxing. Natsu really needs to calm it down a little. She's exhausted." Gray snorted and mused, "No wonder you made that disgusted face in the beginning. Do you feel Natsu inside?" Loke defended, "I can't feel it like that! It's just I feel strong emotions from my master. You have a dirty mind, Gray." Gray quipped, "It takes one to know one."

Gray mentioned, "I still can't believe Yukino and Lucy let those guys do any of that." Loke explained, "I know both of these ladies. They're actually rather uptight when it comes to that kind of stuff. I'm a ladies man, but I have to give credit to those guys. I can say I've never seduced a virgin in a cave while people are trying to kill me. Oh, and there's a little audience precariously nearby. Damn! I'm impressed. I'm going to have to figure out how to one up Natsu, now."

Gray chuckled, saying, "Only you would be impressed with those guys trying to get into Lucy's and Yukino's pants in a dangerous cave with their teammates in the room. They're lucky Erza didn't notice it. She would have killed Sting and Natsu." Loke exclaimed, "Erza was in the room, too? That's even more death-defying than I thought! I'm even more impressed they managed to get it up in the first place." They laughed together.

Gray asked, "Loke, are you really okay with this? You flirt with Lucy all the time." Loke sighed, "If I'm honest, not really. I thought I had a chance with Lucy. Sure, I saw her admiring Natsu's physique quite a few times. I know he has a lot of positive personality traits, as well. Still, I thought he wasn't even in the same league as me. Gray, in all the years we've known Natsu, has he ever said he loves Lucy or done anything perverted to her?"

Gray responded, "Well, I guess he would occasionally join the other guys in trying to stare at the women in the bath, so he could stare at Lucy. Other than that, not really. Natsu did seem a bit overprotective of her, but he can be like that for all of his friends. He didn't seem overly flirtatious around our team. Although, he would certainly tease Lucy when she got naked. He's seen her naked quite a few times."

Loke answered, "Lucky bastard! I haven't even managed to see that." Gray replied, "It's a wonderful sight. " Loke incredulously replied, "I guess you're lucky, too." Gray grinned back.

They observed the Rune Knights replaying the Draco projection on the wall. Gray noted, "It was funny seeing Draco teasing the two girls about dating dragon slayers." Loke rolled his eyes. He pouted, "It's frustrating when your fellow spirit encourages your rival."

Gray responded, "Of course! Draco likely saw Natsu as a fellow dragon. He even had horns, wings, and a tail! It's like seeing the dragon win the princess over the knight." Loke smiled softly, stating, "I can see that. Still, this loyal lion knight will occasionally have to keep the dragon in check, so the princess is happy." Gray and Loke chuckled together.

* * *

Fairy Tail's and Sabertooth's extra rescue teams arrived. Levy observed the situation. She realized, "I guess we came for nothing." Rufus walked up to her. He said, "You're Levy of Fairy Tail, correct? I'm Rufus of Sabertooth. We may have finished the fighting, but I suspect your expertise will be needed."

A Magic Counsel mage greeted, "Long time no see, Levy. I agree with Rufus. We need someone to translate their religious book. We also would like your partner Droy to give input on the plants involved in this case. Maybe Rufus and you can also look into the chemical composition of the drugs involved." Levy replied, "Sure! We'll see what we can do."

The representative inquired, "When can we see Natsu and Lucy of Fairy Tail, and Yukino and Sting of Sabertooth? We still need their statements." Rogue walked up to the representative. He informed the man, "Regrettably, you won't be able to get their statement for a few days. Trust me; it's a dragon slayer thing." The representative looked annoyed, affirming, "Fine. I shall go visit them in a few day when we have some free time. We have a lot more questioning to do. Why don't you introduce us to the men who were forcefully changed into dragon slayers by lacrima?"

Seven men came forward. Kai asked, "What are you going to do with us? Or more specifically me?" The representative smiled gently and stated, "We are aware you were not in control when you killed your friend. Unfortunately, Kai, we do need to charge you for involuntary manslaughter. I suspect you won't have a very serious ruling. You will need counseling for post traumatic stress disorder. I'm so sorry about what you went through. I am very happy Gajeel of Fairy Tail convinced you men not to throw your lives away. All of you will register as new mages. I would like for you to look into all of the guilds. It would benefit you all to train with your new powers."

Kai decisively announced, "I'm giving myself up." Rogue ran forward, yelling, "Wait!" Rogue looked at the Rune Knights: "Just give me a minute to talk with this guy." They walked over to a clearing. Rogue said, "I know you feel like crap right now. I know they plan on charging you, but I guarantee it's more like house arrest stuff. You had no intent and were drugged. I would like to visit you. Is that okay?"

Kai nodded. He looked distressed, saying, "Yeah, you can visit me. I think I'll probably be in jail." Rogue asked, "Would you be open to letting me teach you shadow magic?" Kai answered, "I don't know." He looked down in contemplation. Rogue asked, "You okay?" Kai responded, "I never thought giving my soul up for Draco would be like that. A fight to the death, like a tournament? What the hell?! Those people...enjoyed our suffering. I know when I bled, they cheered louder. I must be an unlikable prick."

Rogue put his hand on Kai's shoulder. "Kai, you're not unlikable. I've done some shitty stuff in the past, too. I once took pride in assisting in my own ill dragon father's death. Guess what? My own dragon hid his soul in me and manipulated my memory to make me think I killed him. When I saw Skiadrum, my dragon father, reappear, I was relieved to see him. I stupidly bragged about killing my majestic dragon father in the past. There is nothing honorable about murder."

Kai wondered, "Did you ever kill anyone?" Rogue shook his head no, continuing, "But I might as well have. You know that white haired girl that was with us? She lost in a battle in the Grand Magic Games a couple years ago. Our former guild head made her strip in front of everyone and take her guild mark off with her own magic. She had nowhere to go."

Kai asked, "What did you do?" Rogue scoffed, "Jack shit. We used to do that to other mages who had a minor setback. Even her mate now realizes he was a dick, saying comments like 'We don't need weaklings on our team.' Well, that so-called weakling saved Natsu, Sting, and me multiple times. She's ridiculously strong...and smart. I think I've got a new appreciation for gravity."

Kai blurted, "She rescued you?" Rogue said, "Yeah. Those cages and cuffs we were in depleted our magic. We couldn't use our magic to break out. She got her spirit to destroy the cage locks, picked the locks of our cuffs with her hairpins, and ordered our exceeds to fly us up to a ledge. Later, we were blocked by about 20 guards in a flooded tunnel. When those guys followed us, she used her spirit Libra to put our environment in zero gravity. Have you seen water in zero gravity?" Kai shook his head no.

Rogue continued, "The water violently flies up into an enormous bubble. Those guards floated up with the water. I think many of those guys came close to drowning. She grabbed all of us and walked right past the bubble. I only knew those people survived when I heard coughing after she released the bubble. That was the moment I realized that sweet, kindhearted teammate could be terrifying. She also summoned Draco with the blonde girl." Kai gasped, "That cute girl did all that? I'm surprised she was seen as weak!"

Rogue responded, "Yeah. Things changed in our guild after Sting took over as the guild head. We actually appreciate our members now. I am so glad Sting fought to get her back to Sabertooth. Incidentally, when you get done with all this legal stuff, I want to ask you to join Sabertooth. I would at least like to make you my apprentice." Kai smiled. He softly uttered, "I would like that."

Kai and Rogue walked back to the Rune Knights. Kai announced, "I'm willingly giving myself up." The Rune Knight replied, "To be honest, you really didn't have to do this for a while." Kai responded, "I just want to get this part of my life past me. I want to have a future." Rogue stated, "Alright, Kai. I will be coming back to visit you next week." Kai said, "I'll see you." Then he walked into the Rune Knights wagon.


	21. Chapter 21: Epilogue

The Dragon Worshipers Cult Slayings ended up a huge story in the magazines and papers, especially in Sorcerer Weekly. The Magic Counsel found a few places where the cult had hidden bodies over the years. Many people in the cult's management, especially the leader Quincy, were arrested and sentenced. Sal also ended in jail, although she got a reduced sentence when she testified against Quincy, particularly when it came to his callous treatment of a pregnant woman. The press was trying to figure out who the pregnant woman was, but the courts prevented Kagura's name from getting out, mostly for privacy reasons. It didn't take much for the press to make guesses.

Natsu and Sting had gone back to normal only a day after drinking the potion. They brought Lucy and Yukino back to their homes and took care of them. Natsu sweetly washed Lucy and clothed her before letting her rest. She had suffered Magic Depletion Syndrome. He managed to make her food, although it was a little difficult with the inconvenient wings and tail.

Lucy recovered a little faster a couple hours later. She massaged Natsu's wings before they retracted. He had already gotten rid of the tail and claws. He could talk normally, but the horns and the wings were taking longer to go away. He pouted, "Luce, they're a bit sensitive." She giggled, explaining, "Sorry, they're so fun to play with, though. It's like soft leather." She continued to massage his wings, while he sweated and grimaced. He yelled, "That's it!" He picked her up and put her on the bed. He suggested, "I think I'd rather play with you, Luce." She giggled as they kissed one another.

Yukino also had suffered from Magic Depletion Syndrome. Draco had taken so much of her magic, she was suffering far worse symptoms. Sting had to fly over to Porlyusica for help. Porlyusica had difficulties understanding the dragon snarls coming from Sting, but she deduced it eventually. She ended up going with Sting over to Yukino's apartment to heal her. Porlyusica gave a disdainful look when Sting gratefully hugged her. Porlyusica said, "Yeah, yeah. You need to let your mate rest. Now, I'm going to get away from you humans." She slammed the door behind her. Sting just shook his head and smiled. After a little rest, Yukino recovered. She asked, "Sting? When did I get to my home?" Sting grinned at her and kissed her.

* * *

After about a month, Fairy Tail invited Sabertooth, Lamia Scale, and Mermaid Heel over for a joint celebration. They also invited all of the new dragon slayers and Ethan over for this celebration as special guests.

Sting, Rogue, and Natsu stood on the stage. Sting announced, "We want to say thank you for saving us. Can Ethan come forward?" Ethan walked up to the stage. Rogue said, "We were told how important you were in this mission. You provided maps, information, and you even let us use your pub as a rendezvous spot. Your place was our base, and we couldn't have done anything without you."

Gajeel walked up to the stage. He said, "I know those people did a horrible crime to yer sister, but I guarantee she's watchin' you from up there. I guarantee she's proud of whatcha did. Yer an honorary member of Fairy Tail and Sabertooth. We owe you." Ethan gratefully said, "Thank you for telling me what happened to my sister. I never would have found out, if you hadn't told me." Sting announced, "Let's hear it for Ethan!" The crowd cheered.

Rogue requested, "Could Orga, Rufus, Erza, Gray, Gajeel, Lector, Happy, and last, but not least, Frosch come up to the cage?" They all walked up to the stage. He continued, "We really want to thank you for coming out to help us. I also want to say thank you for helping save my mate. You all fought valiantly for us. I can't thank you enough for your part in our rescue." More cheers erupted from the crowd.

Natsu said, "We want to give a special shout out to Lamia Scale. Ooba, you gave information to the Fairy Tail rescue team about the area. It helped narrow the search down."

Rogue said, "I also want to thank Kagura, my beautiful mate, and her guild Mermaid Heel. Mermaid Heel, you captured those scum in the caves near your town and helped with the investigation."

He summoned Kagura on the stage. "Kagura, you are my light and life. You kicked their asses, even while 1 month pregnant!" He kissed her in front of everyone. Mermaid Heel's mages and leader looked astonished. Miliana gave Kagura a cheeky look and a couple women's mouths were wide open. Kagura whispered to Rogue, "Um, babe? They didn't know I was pregnant." Rogue sheepishly admitted, "Whoops." He held her hand and announced, "Um, my mate just informed me you guys didn't know that. So, um...we're expecting!"

Mermaid Heel erupted in applause. In the crowd, Erza yelled, "Congratulations, Kagura and Rogue!" The rest of the crowd applauded, too.

Natsu announced, "Now, Yukino and Lucy, get up to the stage!" Lucy and Yukino shyly walked up on to the stage. Sting kissed Yukino on the cheek. Natsu just went all out and made out with Lucy in front of everyone. Catcalls and howls erupted from the crowd. Natsu got back to the microphone: "Lucy and Yukino saved our asses. They called up a Celestial Dragon to stop those people."

Sting got up to the microphone. He proudly declared, "I want to call out my mate as well. Yukino, you proved yourself way more powerful than I would have thought. Yukino, Frosch, and Lector all helped us escape from our cages. Yukino was the one who saved us with gravity magic. You should see what happens when water goes up in zero gravity!" Rogue added, "Yeah. Sting, don't piss her off, or you'll regret it!"

The crowd laughed. Sting revealed, "Anyway, you two organized this mission, and you two ended that cult's reign. We absolutely wouldn't be alive if you hadn't saved us." The crowd cheered, whooped, and hollered, as the two dragon slayers kissed their mates.

Loke showed up on the stage in a puff of smoke. Loke announced, "I would like everyone to walk outside. We have a few special guests, although one of them can't fit in the guild hall." Lucy and Yukino looked at each other and immediately ran outside with big smiles on their faces. The rest of the crowd walked outside behind them.

In front of the guild hall, there stood all of the Celestial spirits who helped out: Polaris, Libra, Aries, and Draco. Lucy and Yukino ran up to their spirits and hugged them. "Thank you for helping us!" Yukino cried. Lucy hugged Loke, saying, "Thank you, Loke. You helped the most. It was your idea about calling Draco in the first place." Loke blushed at the sweet attention, as Natsu looked on slightly jealous. Lucy and Yukino then ran up to Draco and hugged his snout. Lucy said, "And we feel so much gratitude to you. We never could have stopped those people peacefully without you." Draco said, "I'm glad I got the opportunity to spend time with you again."

Lucy asked, "How did all of the spirits get time out of the realm?" Loke responded, "Well, the Celestial King thought you might want to enjoy some time with your spirits without draining your energy. He provided the energy to summon them here." Lucy said, "I wish 'Stache King was here, too." Loke said, "I know. But it's pretty hard to get over here with his power level." Yukino ran up to Loke and said, "Thank the Celestial King for allowing our spirits to be here." Loke smiled softly and said, "I'll be sure to do that."

Lucy and Yukino pulled out their Draco keys. Yukino said, "I guess we should return our keys to you." Draco heartily laughed. He said, "I feel it's in the right hands. You two showed you're more than powerful enough to use those keys together. If you need my help, you two summon me any time." Lucy and Yukino smiled and hugged him. Lucy said, "It might not be very frequent, but we'll see if we can at least visit with you." Draco grinned with his sharp teeth. "Sure, ladies. I think this party could use a little more light." He roared and the night sky twinkled with a whole bunch of falling stars. The crowd cheered and applauded.

Natsu yelled, "Let's celebrate!"

* * *

It was a month and a half later that Lucy and Yukino discovered they were both pregnant. Apparently, Sal was right. The first time being intimate with a dragon slayer usually resulted in pregnancy, despite birth control or condoms. Because of the sensational Cult Slaying court cases, they kept quiet about their pregnant status for a little while. Eventually, the guilds and then the world knew. It wasn't easy hiding a baby bump while fighting monsters in public. The magazines started to speculate whether either mage was the pregnant woman involved in the Draco's Sons cult slayings.

Kagura also had her name in the tabloids. She was also the speculated pregnant woman, but the bigger story was that Rogue and Kagura had gotten married secretly and were having a child. It was considered a shocker, since Kagura was so proud of being a virgin. She also was in Mermaid Heel, a guild known for only using single women. Kagura eventually did have to leave Mermaid Heel, but it was obviously on friendly terms. Unfortunately, the tabloids perceived her departure from Mermaid Heel as a big falling out. She angrily cleared that up while 8 months pregnant with her gravity magic on Jason of Sorcerer Magazine. She spat as she left, "Don't say lies about Mermaid Heel, my husband, Sabertooth, or me! And don't underestimate pregnancy hormones!" Jason lay on the ground and weakly mumbled, "Coool," as she slammed the door behind her. The next day, a retraction was published.

The rest of the new generation dragon slayers settled in to their new guilds as well. They had to undergo tutelage under their new masters. Jace, Jack, and Daisuke had to learn how to use their powers with the help of Natsu, Wendy, Porlyusica, Juvia, and Levy of Fairy Tail. Of course, Natsu had a blast teaching Jace his magic, but the two of them together were destroying parts of the training grounds and the surrounding area. Jace loved doing magic with Natsu, but he decided they were too destructive together. So he eventually joined Blue Pegasus, partly because he was a pretty boy. He settled in quite well with the Trimens. There were no hard feelings, and he visited Fairy Tail all the time.

Wendy was especially happy to teach sky magic and the rather difficult healing magic to Jack, since it's incredibly rare and unknown. Jack had some difficulties with Porlyusica's grouchy demeanor, but she was actually a very capable teacher. He loved being at Fairy Tail, but he felt that he was redundant at the guild. So he eventually looked into other guilds and chose Lamia Scale. He was happy to be so close to home, especially since he now possessed healing magic. He could help out occasionally in his home town. He also frequently visited Fairy Tail, just like Jace did.

Since Juvia wasn't a dragon slayer, she taught water magic to Daisuke. Levy assisted with finding old dragon slayer spells in old books. Daisuke eventually officially joined Fairy Tail.

Sousuke and Ben received their training with Crime Sorciere. Jellal taught Sousuke earth magic. They, too, needed Levy's assistance when it came to old dragon spells, but he got a much more rounded education from Jellal. Sousuke wanted to join Crime Sorciere, but Jellal didn't consider him a former dark mage. Jellal encouraged Sousuke to expand his horizons and look into all of the guilds: dark and light. Sousuke eventually chose Quatro Cerberus.

Erik came back to Crime Sorciere to teach Ben poison magic. He encouraged Ben to join an approved guild, at least for the time being. Since it was relatively close to their hometown, Ben joined Lamia Scale, along with Jack. When Crime Sorciere were in the area, they would visit Sousuke at Quatro Cerberus and Ben at Lamia Scale.

George trained with Sting at Sabertooth. Sting was so proud of his talented protege, he showed him off all the time. Sting and Natsu loved pitting their apprentices against each other. Although he loved hanging out at Sabertooth, George also felt like he was redundant. To him, Sting was a hero. He felt he couldn't compete with Sting's power. He eventually joined Twilight Ogre. He liked how friendly they were and it helped that the guild head was a very nurturing guy. George frequently visited Sabertooth to catch up and get extra lessons from Sting.

Kai was found not guilty for involuntary manslaughter, but he was institutionalized for PTSD. Rogue lobbied for him to carry out his treatment at Sabertooth's guild. He tried to convince the Magic Counsel Kai could be a danger with uncontrolled powers and unstable emotions. At first, they refused Rogue's request. After a month of Kai's disastrous shadow magic bursts, Rogue got his wish. Still, Kai was required to see a psychologist, and he was closely monitored. He improved drastically while at Sabertooth.

In Sabertooth, Kai was treated like family. Rogue, especially, treated him like a younger brother. The positive atmosphere allowed Kai to overcome much of his trauma, although that would still be a daily struggle. Rogue was a very kind and understanding teacher, so Kai became quite talented in shadow magic. Kai really appreciated Rogue's quiet and patient demeanor, although he found it amusing when Rogue completely went crazy when he perceived any danger to Frosch, Kagura, or their son Daika. Kai happily joined Sabertooth.

* * *

Natsu and Lucy walked into Ethan's pub. Ethan greeted, "Natsu! Lucy! Where's the blue cat? How are things?" Lucy replied, "We're all pretty good. Happy's spending time with his little exceed girlfriend, Charles. We thought we'd come check up on you. How are you doing?" Ethan answered, "I'm doing a lot better. Congratulations, by the way. When are you due?" Lucy patted her belly. She answered, "In about a month."

Natsu asked, "So how have things been here?" Ethan answered, "A lot better. A lot of the locals still come to the pub, just without the stupid red cloaks. We also have people visiting just to gawk at Dragon's Den caves. I guess some people have a morbid curiosity, since we've had those trials." Lucy responded, "Yeah, I know what you mean. Reporters keep hounding Natsu and me about what happened. We've had far more people visit Magnolia just to stare at us."

Jace, Jack, and Ben walked into the pub. Natsu grinned and said, "Jace! What are you two doing here?" Ethan answered, "Oh, those guys are frequent visitors. It's awesome to catch up." Natsu and Jace started playing with fire together, as Ethan nervously looked on. Lucy warned, "You two better do your fire magic outside, okay?" Natsu grinned, "Sure, Luce!" Jace and Natsu ran outside.

Lucy turned to Jack and Ben and asked, "So what brings you two here?" Jack answered, "Well, we're going to lay some flowers on the plaque at Dragon's Den." Lucy repeated, "Plaque?" Ben explained, "Yeah. I guess it's been quite a while since you've been here. After they cleared out the Dragon's Den, a lot of the former members of the cult set up a nice plaque, in honor of the victims. Many of those people are still trying to come to terms with what they did. After all, many of them are victims, too. Friends and families of the victims visit frequently. We just thought it would be nice to honor Daika. After all, it could have been all of us."

Lucy said, "I really am glad Gajeel convinced you otherwise. He may be prickly on the outside, but he's a softy on the inside. Trust me. I've seen that guy with his mate, Levy." Jack and Ben incredulously asked, "Levy?!" Lucy giggled at their reactions. Ben continued, "But she's so cute and sweet." Jack said, "Yeah, and he's not exactly a pretty boy type. And I thought her teammates were in love with her." Lucy said, "I know. It took me a little while to get accustomed to it, too. But they are wonderful together. They're also pregnant. She's due in 8 months."

Ethan suggested, "Would you and Natsu like to come with us to see the plaque?" Lucy smiled and replied, "We'd love to." They walked out of the pub toward the caves. Jace and Natsu caught up with them. As they got closer to the Dragon's Den, Lucy's breath hitched a little. Natsu held her hand and asked, "Are you okay?" She answered, "I'm okay. It's been a while since we've been here. I've had this connotation of the Dragon's Den in my memory as this evil place that was meant for our doom. But now that I look at it, it's actually quite beautiful." Ethan smiled, adding, "A lot of the former members planted flowers as a way to atone in a small way." Natsu said, "I have to agree with Luce. It is beautiful."

They walked up to the beautiful plaque honoring the victims. Tears ran down Ethan's face as he honored Claire and Daika. The others did, too. Jace cried, "I miss Daika so much. I can't believe we fell for their bullshit!" Natsu hugged him and said, "It's okay. They went to a lot of effort to manipulate you guys." Lucy said, "He's right. They hypnotized quite a few of your townspeople and used a projection and fire to convince all of you it was real."

Ethan placed a flower on the plaque, saying, "This is for Claire. We just found out in the trials that the hypnotist used his ability to wipe their memories. The kidnapped victims didn't even exist in their minds. That's why a lot of the people didn't even seem to care or notice Claire was missing. I guess the only reason I remembered her, is because I visited a friend that day." Tears ran down his cheeks. They all hugged Ethan. Lucy said, "And we'll be here to honor her memory. She's not forgotten; far from it. She has a special honor, particularly in Fairy Tail and Sabertooth guilds. The same goes for Daika and you, Ethan." Ben said, "In our hometown, we have a lot of reverence for Sabertooth and Fairy Tail, too. You all helped and saved us."

Lucy added, "Well, most of you. I wish I could have stopped it. I was too much of a coward to do anything during Kai's and Daika's battle." Jack put his hand on her shoulder, reporting, "We were told by the Magic Counsel it would have been a death sentence to interfere. That plant mage's potions were incredibly strong. I doubt you could have done anything to stop it once the potions were in effect."

Lucy still had a sad face. Natsu hugged her, stating, "It's okay, Luce. Yukino and you eventually stopped that cult peacefully." He kissed her cheeks, adding "And you saved me. I'm a very lucky man to have such a wonderful mate." She smiled softly. Ethan asserted, "Natsu's right. You two managed to summon the actual god of our religion. I know of no other people who could accomplish that. I'm sure Daika is looking down, happy that you guys stopped this cult." Lucy placed a flower on the plaque. She said, "Yes, but I still wish I had saved him." Natsu replied, "You saved entire towns, Luce." He kissed her forehead.

She saw the name _Claire_ on the plaque. She held Natsu's hand and asked, "Ethan?" Ethan glanced up. He responded, "Yes?" Lucy disclosed, "Natsu and I know we're having a little girl." Natsu admitted, "We actually visited because we want to ask you something." Ethan said, "Sure." Lucy continued, "We were thinking of names for our little girl. We were wondering if it would be alright if we could name her after your sister." Tears dropped down Ethan's cheeks. He exclaimed, "It would be an honor! Thank you!" Lucy and Natsu smiled warmly at Ethan. Jack said, "Let's go celebrate at the pub!"

As they left Dragon's Den caves, Lucy held hands with Natsu. They watched as Ethan, Jace, Ben, and Jack walked ahead, joking and talking with one another. Lucy said, "I think they're going to be okay." Natsu grinned as he saw Jace and Ben play with their magic near each other. He said, "I agree. They look so much happier than when we first met them." Lucy said, "I heard the other guys are much better too. I feel like Rogue did amazing things with Kai. That guy is finally laughing again." Natsu answered, "Kai needed someone relatively calm like Rogue. I doubt he'd do as well with Sting or me." Lucy added, "Yeah. You two are too energetic." Natsu chuckled next to her.

Lucy asked, "So, Natsu, how was your time with Jace?" Natsu responded, "It was a load of fun! Jace is pretty awesome. I'm a little sad he chose to join Blue Pegasus, though." Lucy giggled. She joked, "Well, if he didn't, the entire town of Magnolia would be burnt to the ground!" He chuckled.

He put his hand on her growing belly. He teased, "It's okay, Luce. I'll pass on my powers to her, too. That way, our daughter and I can burn Magnolia to the ground, instead." Lucy inquired, "And if she's a Celestial Mage?" He smiled larger and asserted, "Nope! I'm sure she'll be a destructive fire mage." Lucy answered, "Not if I can help it!" She tickled him. He laughed heartily.

After she stopped, he kissed her. He declared, "I don't care what type of magic she really has. I'm sure she'll be powerful. After all, her mother can summon a dragon!" She giggled and warned, "Yeah, so you better watch out!" They laughed together.

He looked earnestly at her and declared, "Luce, I love you so much. You have no idea how happy I am you guys saved us. I know this whole rescue was a nightmare. Still, we admitted out love to one another and produced a beautiful little girl in that cave." Lucy added, "I guess Sting and Yukino are having a boy as well." Natsu said, "Exactly! This wasn't all death and destruction. We have positive reminders of Dragon's Den. For those guys ahead, they have a new life, complete with magical abilities. I got an apprentice out of this! For Sting and me, we got our mates and our firstborn in Dragon's Den. It feels like a miracle, considering we were all supposed to die." Lucy softly said, "You're right. Out of the ashes of Dragon's Den, quite a few miracles emerged." A beautiful sunset lay ahead as the couple happily followed the men to the Tafod y Draig.

The End

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Thank you for reading my story. I know this was long, but I appreciate you sticking around to read it.

-I thought it would be nice to have Rogue and Kagura name their son after Kai's best friend, Daika. I kind of perceive Kai as telling all of these stories about him to Rogue, so it would be a nice progression.

-I'm sorry I didn't get to flesh out many of the newest dragon slayers. That takes time! Hehe. I think I'm wordy enough.

-Thank you everyone for giving feedback. I know I'm not experienced in writing stories like this, so ever little bit helps. Thank you to the French guest who told me I had huge blocks of dialogue. I'll try to improve that in the future.


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